Proteomic analysis of human tooth pulp proteomes - Comparison of caries-resistant and caries-susceptible persons
Abstract
Most people in the world suffer from dental caries, > 90% of adults experience caries on enamel and root surfaces during their life. However, the overall roles of all factors in the development of dental caries still remain unclear and are worthy of recent investigation.
In this study we used a proteomic 2D-DIGE approach in connection with MS/MS to investigate the different protein abundances in the tooth pulp of human third molars obtained from caries-resistant and caries-susceptible people. Statistical analysis of the two protein maps obtained on large gel (17 cm length) and mini gel (7 cm length) followed by nLC-MS/MS analysis enabled the identification of 16 significantly changed spots with unique protein identifications corresponding to 12 non-redundant proteins.
Seven proteins exhibited higher and four proteins exhibited lower expression in the caries-resistant samples compared to the caries-susceptible samples. Additionally, one protein (alpha-1-antitrypsin) exhibited both expressions (up and down).
Most of the differentially expressed proteins were associated with protein metabolism, energy production, cytoskeletal organization and transport. These differentially expressed proteins are likely involved in the natural resistance or susceptibility of humans to the development of dental caries and suggest that the resistance mechanism is multifactorial.