Adherence of Streptococcus sanguis to salivary mucin bound to glass.

This study demonstrated that human submandibular-sublingual saliva (HSMSL) provided a better substrate than did whole saliva or parotid saliva for the binding of Streptococcus sanguis in a glass adherence assay. Additional evidence indicated that the lower molecular weight salivary mucin in HSMSL was involved in these interactions. Mucin's sialic acid residues were found to play a major role in mediating the binding of certain strains of Streptococcus sanguis.