Effects of oral streptococci on electrophoretic properties of human salivary anionic proteins.

Incubation of saliva supernatant after three hours at 37 C revealed that salivary anionic proteins were susceptible to enzymatic attack by salivary enzymes not removable by centrifugation at 10,000 g. In the presence of washed suspensions of S mutans or S sanguis additional changes in electrophoretic behavior of anionic proteins occurred. Differences between organisms suggested a selectivity of attack on the anionic proteins.