Research Bio
Dissemination of oral bacteria into the bloodstream has been associated with eating, oral hygiene and dental procedures; including tooth extraction, endodontic treatment, and periodontal surgery. Recently, studies identified Streptococcus mutans, the primary etiological agent of dental caries, as the most prevalent bacterial species found in clinical samples from patients who underwent heart valve and atheromatous plaque surgery. My research focuses on dissecting, at the molecular level, the interactions between S. mutans and Human Coronary Endothelial Cells.
Another field of interest is to understand the stress tolerance mechanisms employed by S. mutans to cope with the constant changes in pH, and nutrient composition and availability in the oral cavity.
2012 Aug
Gaca AO, Abranches J, Kajfasz JK, Lemos J. "Global transcriptional analysis of the stringent response in Enterococcus faecalis." Microbiology (Reading, England). 2012 Aug 0; 158(Pt 8):1994-2004. Epub 2012 May 31. |
2012 Jul
Kajfasz JK, Mendoza JE, Gaca AO, Miller JH, Koselny KA, Giambiagi-Demarval M, Wellington M, Abranches J, Lemos JA. "The Spx regulator modulates stress responses and virulence in Enterococcus faecalis." Infection and immunity. 2012 Jul 0; 80(7):2265-75. Epub 2012 Apr 16. |
2012 Apr
Bitoun JP, Liao S, Yao X, Ahn SJ, Isoda R, Nguyen AH, Brady LJ, Burne RA, Abranches J, Wen ZT. "BrpA is involved in regulation of cell envelope stress responses in Streptococcus mutans." Applied and environmental microbiology. 2012 Apr 0; 78(8):2914-22. Epub 2012 Feb 10. |
2011 Oct
Kajfasz JK, Abranches J, Lemos JA. "Transcriptome analysis reveals that ClpXP proteolysis controls key virulence properties of Streptococcus mutans." Microbiology (Reading, England). 2011 Oct 0; 157(Pt 10):2880-90. Epub 2011 Aug 04. |
2011 Jun
Abranches J, Miller JH, Martinez AR, Simpson-Haidaris PJ, Burne RA, Lemos JA. "The collagen-binding protein Cnm is required for Streptococcus mutans adherence to and intracellular invasion of human coronary artery endothelial cells." Infection and immunity. 2011 Jun 0; 79(6):2277-84. Epub 2011 Mar 21. |
