Charakterystyka stateryny - białka śliny zaangażowanego w utrzymywanie homeostazy jamy ustnej

Saliva is a gel resembling liquid, that acts almost as an organic tissue [1]. Saliva influences oral health through its non-specific physico-chemical properties [2]. It is composed of secretions from parotid, submandibular and sublingual glands, and smaller contributions come from minor salivary glands (e.g. palatal and labial). Saliva contains a number of proteins and polypeptides [2]. One of them is statherin a multifunctional 43-amino acid residue phosphominiprotein, containing vicinal phosphoserines at 2 and 3 positions and seven residues of tyrosine (Fig. 1) [7]. The relevant structural feature of statherin is N-terminal helix segment connected to a long poly--L-proline type II segment, which is followed by a short extended structure [14]. The gene for statherin is believed to be a single-copy gene and has been mapped to human chromosome 4q11-13 [20]. The statherin variants are SV1, SV2 and SV3 which comprise approx. 30% of the statherin family (Fig. 6). The ratios of statherin : SV1 and SV2 : SV3 are in both cases approx. 3 : 1. Statherin and SV2 are products of two different transcripts found in each of the major salivary gland. The variants SV1 and SV3 are derived by post-translational processing of statherin and SV2 [22]. Statherin is a multifunctional molecule that shows a high affinity for calcium phosphate minerals such as hydroxyapatite. It takes part in the calcium and phosphate transport during secretion in the salivary glands, is responsible for the protection and recalcification of tooth enamel, promotes selective initial bacterial colonization of enamel, and functions as a boundary lubricant on the enamel surface [38, 39]. Satherin levels of concentration in saliva could be in relation with the precancerous and cancerous lesions of the oral cavity [38]. The understanding of a profile and role of statherin has become important in medicine as the peptide could play a protective effect in oral cavity. However, the role and the functions of this peptide are still not well-know [38].