OBJECTIVETo explore the relationship between salivary proteome and dental caries and to promote the biomarker studies of dental caries susceptibility by comparing the salivary proteome of caries-active children and caries-free children with electrospray ionization ion-trap tandem mass spectrometry (ESI-MS/MS).

METHODSTen caries-active children and ten caries-free children were sampled. The salivary proteome of the two groups was studied, and the differential protein between the two groups was analyzed by ESI-MS/MS after sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, filter-aided sample preparation, and liquid chromatography.

RESULTSThe concentration of salivary protein was higher in the caries-active group than in the caries-free group. The polypeptide counts of thecaries-active and caries-free groups were 602 and 481, which belonged to 286 and 227 proteins, respectively. The differential polypeptide count of the two groups was 361, and the differential protein count was 118. The detected proteins included matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP9), mucin-7 (MUC7), lactotransferrin (LTF), carbonic anhydrase 6 (CA6), azurocidin (AZU), and cold agglutinin.

CONCLUSIONThe total salivary protein was higher in the caries-active group than in the caries-free group. The preliminary detection of differential proteins (MMP9, MUC7, LTF, CA6, AZU, and cold agglutinin) may lay some foundation for biomarker research of dental caries susceptibility.