Role of sialic acid in the kinetics of Streptococcus sanguis adhesion to artificial pellicle.

Evaluation of the kinetics of adhesion of Streptococcus sanguis 10556 to saliva-coated hydroxylapatite revealed that sialic acid played a role in the formation of a stable cell-substratum complex. In a previous paper (M. M. Cowan, K. G. Taylor, and R. J. Doyle, J. Dent. Res. 65:1278-1283, 1986) the adhesion was found to take place in two distinct stages: a reversible equilibrium, probably governed by long-range forces, followed by a transition to higher-affinity binding. In the present study, artificial pellicle was treated with neuraminidase, and kinetic adsorption and desorption experiments with S. sanguis were conducted. The depletion of sialic acid from pellicle decreased the initial adsorption rate constant only slightly. The rate constant describing the initial desorption was unaffected. However, no transition to the second (high-affinity) association occurred. While S. sanguis desorption from control pellicles exhibited two sequential rates, with the second rate being approximately 10 times slower than the first, all desorption from sialo-deficient pellicles occurred at one rate that was equivalent to the initial rate constant for control desorption. The cells did not reach an equilibrium with the sialo-deficient pellicle, even after 6 h. Competing sialic acid did not decrease the rate or extent of adsorption, but desorption occurred to a greater extent when cells had adsorbed in the presence of sialic acid. These data suggest that sialic acid plays little role in the initial association of cell and pellicle but that it is necessary for the transition to high-affinity binding and the concomitant decreased propensity to desorb.