Melbourne Dental School - Research Publications

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    Taxonomy of Oral Bacteria
    Byrne, SJ ; Butler, CA ; Reynolds, EC ; Dashper, SG ; Gurtler, V ; Trevors, JT (ELSEVIER ACADEMIC PRESS INC, 2018-01-01)
    The oral cavity is a collection of diverse microenvironments, each inhabited by a community of microorganisms, the majority of which are bacteria and their phages. Given the appropriate conditions, some of these bacteria can cause destruction of the teeth or their supporting hard and soft tissues. For over 300 years microbiologists have been characterising these microbial communities, in both oral health and disease. In this chapter, we take the reader on a journey through time as we discuss the various methods that have been utilised in the characterisation of the bacteria calling the oral cavity home, and how the use of these methods has informed our understanding of oral bacterial communities and the diversity of their members.
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    Molecular Interactions of Peptide Encapsulated Calcium Phosphate Delivery Vehicle at Enamel Surfaces
    Huq, NL ; Cross, KJ ; Myroforidis, H ; Stanton, DP ; Chen, YY ; Ward, BR ; Reynolds, EC ; Nagasawa, H ; Kogure, T ; Endo, K (Springer, 2018-12-31)
    Phosphorylated peptides derived from milk caseins, known as casein phosphopeptides (CPP) self-assemble and encapsulate the calcium and phosphate mineral in the form of amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) thus forming CPP-ACP nanocomplexes that are non-toxic and bio-compatible. The biomedical application is the repair of tooth surfaces (enamel) at early stages of tooth decay. These nanocomplexes release calcium and phosphate ions to rebuild demineralised HA crystals in enamel subsurface lesions. The topical application of CPP-ACP at the tooth surface initiates a series of interactions at the enamel mineral hydroxyapatite surface, and at the enamel salivary pellicle that are not well understood. In this study, we have shown that the β-casein (1-25) peptide binds reversibly to Ca2+, Mg2+, Mn2+, La2+, Ni2+, and Cd2+ metal ions. In contrast, binding to Sn2+, Fe2+, and Fe3+ ions, resulted in ion-induced aggregation. The casein peptides as well as the mineral ions dissociate from the CPP-ACP complexes to adsorb to both the un-coated and saliva-coated mineral surface with the mineralisation increasing monotonically with increasing pH. Furthermore, SEM of the CPP-ACP revealed images of spherical particles surrounded by ACP mineral. In conclusion, the enamel remineralisation process involves an array of interactions between the peptide and mineral ions of the CPP-ACP delivery vehicle and the tooth enamel mineral with its salivary pellicle.