Zezhang Wen
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans, LA·Microbiology & Immunology
Tooth decay, also called dental caries, is one of the most common and costly infectious diseases worldwide. It starts when bacteria form dental plaque, a tough, sticky film called a biofilm on tooth surfaces.
- Fields
Microbiology & Immunology
Biochemistry
Medicine & Clinical Research
- Topics
Streptococcus mutans
dental caries
tooth decay
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Jul 2027
What they work on
- Identify the transcriptional and post-transcriptional factors that control expression of brpA, a gene needed for biofilm formation in Streptococcus mutans, using molecular, biochemical and bioinformatics approaches.
- Determine how the surface protein BrpA shapes the biofilm matrix and helps S. mutans build biofilms alone and with other bacterial species.
- Map binding sites on BrpA and model protein–inhibitor complexes, then refine lead small molecules through organic chemistry and test them in assays and a rat model of tooth decay.
More about the research
Streptococcus mutans is a key decay-causing bacterium. The lab has shown that a surface protein called BrpA (biofilm regulatory protein A) is critical for building the bacterium's cell envelope and its biofilms, and for its ability to cause cavities. This long-running project asks how BrpA is controlled and how it works. It also asks whether small molecules that block BrpA could prevent decay.
Why it matters
Tooth decay costs the United States tens of billions of dollars each year. Small molecules that selectively disrupt S. mutans biofilms could lead to new ways to prevent and treat cavities. Because BrpA belongs to a protein family found in other Gram-positive bacteria, the insights could also inform work on related bacterial infections.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Jose Lemos
University of Florida, FL·Microbiology & Immunology
Uncover the regulatory mechanisms that let Streptococcus mutans tolerate high zinc, focusing on ZccE, a zinc-exporting pump unique to this species, and its regulator ZccR, using genetic and mutational approaches.
Ming Hu
University of Houston, TX·Pharmacology
Determine why buprenorphine, an opioid use disorder medication, reaches much higher levels in saliva than in blood, testing whether it accumulates in salivary glands, using LC-MS drug measurement in rodents.
Maryam Hajfathalian
New Jersey Institute of Technology, NJ·Biomedical Engineering·Early-career
Synthesize photothermal nanoparticles with nanoshell, nanocage or nanoframe shapes made of silver, gold, platinum and palladium, and tune their light-to-heat behavior for treating dental caries, wound and skin infections.
The school
Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans: 3 labs on PI Pages, $80M a year on research, 24 research doctorates a year.
More about Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center-New Orleans
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