{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,23]],"date-time":"2026-06-23T06:47:56Z","timestamp":1782197276870,"version":"3.54.5"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,23]],"date-time":"2026-06-23T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1782172800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Microbiol."],"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    <jats:italic>Streptococcus mutans<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>Streptococcus sobrinus<\/jats:italic>\n                    are key contributors to dental caries within a broader polymicrobial biofilm community, driving pathogenicity through biofilm and dental plaque formation rather than direct tissue invasion. Probiotic-based strategies that target colonization rather than viability represent a promising non-antibiotic approach to caries prevention.\n                    <jats:italic>Streptococcus thermophilus<\/jats:italic>\n                    is a food-grade organism with established GRAS status and a long history of safe human consumption, yet it remains largely unexplored as an oral care ingredient. In this study, two\n                    <jats:italic>S. thermophilus<\/jats:italic>\n                    strains \u2013 DM287, isolated from a commercially available yogurt product, and DM294, isolated from the tongue coat of healthy adults \u2013 were characterized for anti-cariogenic activity through mechanisms independent of major pathogen abundance reduction. Both strains reduced plaque mass by approximately 75%\u201380% in a wire model assay and suppressed\n                    <jats:italic>S. mutans<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>S. sobrinus<\/jats:italic>\n                    biofilm biomass to near-baseline levels, while planktonic growth suggested that the observed effects were not primarily driven by bactericidal activity. Adhesion inhibition assays showed 32%\u201364% reduction in pathogen adhesion under protection conditions and 72%\u201376% under displacement conditions. Competitive colonization assays demonstrated that both strains increased surface attachment in pathogen-conditioned environments (fold change &amp;gt; 1.0), consistent with competitive displacement behavior. RT-qPCR analysis of\n                    <jats:italic>S. mutans<\/jats:italic>\n                    biofilms co-cultured with either strain revealed significant downregulation of\n                    <jats:italic>gtfB<\/jats:italic>\n                    and\n                    <jats:italic>gtfC<\/jats:italic>\n                    \u2013 key glucosyltransferase genes encoding the EPS synthetic machinery central to biofilm structure \u2013 with reductions of approximately 34%\u201363% depending on the strain and time point, suggesting transcriptional suppression of biofilm-associated virulence as a contributing mechanism. EPS quantification by phenol\u2013sulfuric acid assay further demonstrated that both strains reduced EPS production by 80%\u201390%, a magnitude comparable to chlorhexidine and substantially exceeding that of\n                    <jats:italic>Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus<\/jats:italic>\n                    GG. Taken together, these findings suggest that\n                    <jats:italic>S. thermophilus<\/jats:italic>\n                    DM287 and DM294 are biocompatible candidate strains with promising anti-biofilm potential for oral care applications, pending further validation.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3389\/fmicb.2026.1852167","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,23]],"date-time":"2026-06-23T06:12:05Z","timestamp":1782195125000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Streptococcus thermophilus DM287 and DM294 as candidate oral probiotic strains with anti-biofilm activity against cariogenic pathogens"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"17","author":[{"given":"Jeong-Hoo","family":"Lee","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"R&D Center, DOCSMEDI Co., Ltd.","place":["Goyang, Republic of Korea"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jia","family":"Yoo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"R&D Center, DOCSMEDI Co., Ltd.","place":["Goyang, Republic of Korea"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Je-Hyun","family":"Eom","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Apple Tree Institute of Biomedical Science, Apple Tree Medical Foundation","place":["Goyang, Republic of Korea"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Young-Youn","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Apple Tree Dental Hospital, Apple Tree Medical Foundation","place":["Goyang, Republic of Korea"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Hye-Sung","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Apple Tree Dental Hospital, Apple Tree Medical Foundation","place":["Goyang, Republic of Korea"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Seung-Jo","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"R&D Center, DOCSMEDI Co., Ltd.","place":["Goyang, Republic of Korea"]}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1965","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,23]]},"reference":[{"key":"B1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3028","DOI":"10.1128\/JB.187.9.3028-3038.2005","article-title":"Role of HtrA in growth and competence of Streptococcus mutans UA159.","volume":"187","author":"Ahn","year":"2005","journal-title":"J. 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