Differential Proteomics Analysis on Fluoride-resistant Streptococcus mutans by Label-free Quantitation

To figure out the changed biological characteristics of a fluoride-resistant strain compared with those of the parent sensitive strain of Streptococcus mutans（S,mutans） with the help of differential proteomics analysis,sixtyseven proteins with obvious differential expression were identified in fluoride-resistant strain.Among them are the important virulence factors causing caries,including glucosyltransferase-S,glucosyltransferase-I,glucosyltransferase-Si,major cell-surface adhesin Pac,F-ATPase β-subunit,Fth,molecular chaperone DnaK,chaperonin GroEL,and the lactate dehydrogenase.We obtained the differential proteomics expression profiles of the fluoride-resistant strain（UA159-FR） and its parental strain（UA159） of S.mutans.Several important virulence factors bringing about caries were identified to have differential expressions,among which the expression of lactate dehydrogenase in fluoride-resistant strain was enhanced compared to that in its parent strain.The results could provide the basis for analvsing the functions of proteins encoded by caries-related genes from the fluoride-resistant S.mutans strain.