According to the "Daily Science" website recently, Groningen's two professors, Dijkstra and Dijikho, have deciphered the structure and mechanism of glucanase that causes tooth decay. This knowledge will further promote the identification and discovery of substances containing inhibitory enzymes. As long as this substance is added to toothpaste or even candy, dental caries become past style.

The results of this study have been published in the Journal of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands analyzed glucans from Lactobacillus reuteri. Lactobacillus reuteri existed in human oral and digestive tracts. This bacterium uses glucanase to convert sugars in food into long, sticky sugar chains. And using the stickiness of the sugar chains sticks themselves to the enamel. The rotted starter of the tooth, Streptococcus mutans, also uses this enzyme. Once attached to the surface of the tooth, these bacteria ferment sugars to release acidic substances that dissolve the calcium in the teeth. This is where dental caries occur.

The Groningen researchers successfully crystallized dextran for the first time. The crystal structure shows that the protein folding mechanism is unique. The domain of this enzyme is not formed by a single linear amino acid chain, but comes from two parts, which are combined in a chain U-shaped structure. As the three-dimensional structure was broken, the researchers discovered that the enzyme breaks down matter into fructose and glucose, and then adds glucose molecules to the growing sugar chain. So far, the scientific community believes that these two processes are performed by different parts of the enzyme. However, the model established by the Groningen researchers showed that both activities occur at the same active site of the enzyme.

Dijkko expects that a special inhibitor of glucanase may help prevent bacteria from sticking to the enamel. Information on the structure and functional mechanisms of this enzyme is crucial for the development of this inhibitor. So far, this kind of research has not been successful. Through the study of various inhibitors, they found that they not only inhibited glucanase but also inhibited the amylases necessary for digestive function.