{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,27]],"date-time":"2026-09-27T04:03:44Z","timestamp":1790481824980,"version":"4.1.0"},"reference-count":42,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]],"date-time":"2026-04-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1775174400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","award":["82201040"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82201040"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"crossref"}]},{"award":["82201040"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82201040"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Science and Technology Program of Guangzhou, China","award":["2025A04J5291"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2025A04J5291"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Microorganisms"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Streptococcus mutans (S. mutans), one of the main etiological pathogens of dental caries, forms dental plaque biofilms that drive tooth decay. Although bacterial membrane vesicles (MVs) are increasingly recognized as modulators of biofilm biology, little is known about MVs generated by S. mutans. The objective of this study is to investigate the role of S. mutans-derived MVs in the development of S. mutans biofilms formed under static conditions in plates or confocal dishes. Transmission electron microscopy and nanoparticle tracking analysis revealed that the MVs were cup-shaped with bilayered membranes and averaged 80.49 \u00b1 32.24 nm in diameter. The addition of \u22655 \u00b5g\/mL MVs enhanced biofilm formation during the initial adhesion stage (0 to 6 h), as demonstrated by crystal violet staining and XTT assays. Confocal laser scanning microscopy and scanning electron microscopy confirmed the incorporation of PKH26-labeled MVs into S. mutans biofilms and showed that supplemental MVs increased bacterial viability and extracellular polysaccharide biomass. Furthermore, RT-qPCR analysis revealed upregulated expression of genes related to adhesion and quorum-sensing systems in MV-treated biofilms. In conclusion, these findings indicate that S. muants MVs are integral biofilm components that promote biofilm establishment at the early stage of biofilm formation.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/microorganisms14040826","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,6]],"date-time":"2026-04-06T04:10:27Z","timestamp":1775448627000},"page":"826","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Membrane Vesicles Improve Streptococcus mutans Early Biofilm Formation"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0001-2714-7489","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yina","family":"Cao","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Hospital of Stomatology, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510055, China"},{"name":"Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510055, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yue","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Hospital of Stomatology, Guanghua School of Stomatology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510055, China"},{"name":"Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Sun Yat-Sen University, Guangzhou 510055, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-9757-7735","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yinghong","family":"Zhou","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Dentistry, Centre for Orofacial Regeneration, Reconstruction and Rehabilitation (COR3), The University of Queensland, Brisbane 4006, Australia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1211","DOI":"10.1016\/S0140-6736(17)32154-2","article-title":"Global, regional, and national incidence, prevalence, and years lived with disability for 328 diseases and injuries for 195 countries, 1990\u20132016: A systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016","volume":"390","author":"Disease","year":"2017","journal-title":"Lancet"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1267","DOI":"10.2741\/1305","article-title":"Virulence properties of Streptococcus mutans","volume":"9","author":"Banas","year":"2004","journal-title":"Front. 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