Dental caries is a highly prevalent multifactorial disease that can result in serious health impairment. It was shown that oral bacteria play a significant role in caries development. Point-of-care (POC) salivary microbial tests for detection of cariogenic species have been investigated as a potential tool for caries risk assessment. This review aims to evaluate clinical relevance of these tests in the light of recent scientific evidence. Methodology involved PubMed search using key words salivary microbial tests, cariogenic bacteria and caries risk prediction. Articles obtained by the search were cross-referenced to obtain further sources. Specificity and negative-predictive value of these tests are higher than their sensitivity and positive value. Predictive power of the POC salivary microbial tests as a single predictor is generally weak, although it increases when included in multifactorial models for caries prediction. Literature findings support the use of these tests for screening of at-risk individuals in a population of young preschool children without visible caries and for motivation of subjects on individual level. POC salivary microbial tests are simple and inexpensive and, therefore, may be advantageous from public health perspective.

• MeSH
• Bacteria klasifikace   izolace a purifikace   patogenita   MeSH
• bakteriální infekce komplikace   diagnóza   mikrobiologie   MeSH
• bakteriologické techniky metody   MeSH
• lidé MeSH
• sliny mikrobiologie   MeSH
• vyšetření u lůžka * MeSH
• zubní kaz mikrobiologie   prevence a kontrola   MeSH
• Check Tag
• lidé MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• přehledy MeSH

Signal transduction pathways in both prokaryotes and eukaryotes utilize protein phosphorylation as a key regulatory mechanism. Recent studies have proven that eukaryotic-type serine/threonine protein kinases (Hank's type) are widespread in many bacteria, although little is known regarding the cellular processes they control. In this study, we have attempted to establish the role of a single eukaryotic-type protein kinase, StkP of Streptococcus pneumoniae, in bacterial survival. Our results indicate that the expression of StkP is important for the resistance of S. pneumoniae to various stress conditions. To investigate the impact of StkP on this phenotype, we compared the whole-genome expression profiles of the wild-type and DeltastkP mutant strains by microarray technology. This analysis revealed that StkP positively controls the transcription of a set of genes encoding functions involved in cell wall metabolism, pyrimidine biosynthesis, DNA repair, iron uptake, and oxidative stress response. Despite the reduced transformability of the stkP mutant, we found that the competence regulon was derepressed in the stkP mutant under conditions that normally repress natural competence development. Furthermore, the competence regulon was expressed independently of exogenous competence-stimulating peptide. In summary, our studies show that a eukaryotic-type serine/threonine protein kinase functions as a global regulator of gene expression in S. pneumoniae.

• MeSH
• bakteriální proteiny genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• delece genu MeSH
• eukaryotické buňky enzymologie   MeSH
• fenotyp MeSH
• koncentrace vodíkových iontů MeSH
• mikrobiální viabilita účinky léků   genetika   MeSH
• mutace MeSH
• osmotický tlak MeSH
• oxidační stres MeSH
• peroxid vodíku farmakologie   MeSH
• polymerázová řetězová reakce s reverzní transkripcí MeSH
• protein-serin-threoninkinasy genetika   metabolismus   MeSH
• regulace genové exprese u bakterií * MeSH
• sekvenční analýza hybridizací s uspořádaným souborem oligonukleotidů MeSH
• Streptococcus pneumoniae enzymologie   genetika   růst a vývoj   MeSH
• testy genetické komplementace MeSH
• vysoká teplota MeSH
• Publikační typ
• časopisecké články MeSH
• práce podpořená grantem MeSH
• Názvy látek
• bakteriální proteiny MeSH
• peroxid vodíku MeSH
• protein-serin-threoninkinasy MeSH