Sidebar: Saliva Protein "Dictionary" Comes Online

For many decades, researchers have known that saliva is important for more than chewing, tasting, swallowing, and as the first step in digestion: A multitude of proteins and other molecules in saliva also play vital roles in protecting us from bacteria and viruses that can make us sick.

Now, scientists are well on their way to understanding how saliva contributes all of its healthy functions. In March 2008, an NIDCR-supported team of biologists, chemists, engineers and computer scientists at five research institutions across the country recently mapped the salivary proteome, or "dictionary," of proteins present in human saliva.

Representing saliva samples from two dozen women and men of various ethnic backgrounds, the saliva catalog contains over a thousand proteins. Over half of the proteins in saliva were also present in blood, and nearly one quarter were the same as those in tears. A database that provides scientists with the raw data from these projects is now available online.

The saliva catalog is an important first step towards being able to use saliva biomarkers to diagnose oral and systemic diseases. Saliva tests based on these biomarkers offer many advantages over blood tests that require a needle stick and can pose contamination risks from blood-borne diseases. However, much effort is still required to enrich and refine the catalog. To realize this goal, it is crucial that the research community actively participates in this effort. In the works is a collaborative, community-based Web portal that will enable scientists to add their own research data to the growing database; share results; curate the data; and discover new knowledge--further enhancing the value of the salivary proteome.