Adsorption of Antibiotic TA to Dental Hard Tissues

Abstract

Antibiotic TA (TA) is a wide-spectrum, bactericidal antibiotic produced by Myxococcus xanthus strain TA. It was previously demonstrated that TA binds tightly to soft tissues while retaining its bactericidal activity in the bound form. The present study was undertaken to investigate TA adsorption to dental hard tissues. Slabs of dental tissues that had been cut from periodontally-involved extracted human teeth were treated with TA and then washed in saline with shaking (saline being replaced every 15 minutes). After 30, 60, and 120 minutes of washing, 45, 39, and 27% of the input TA activities were retained on the slabs, respectively. The tooth-bound TA was released slowly into the aqueous medium in active form. Similar experiments with beta-lactam antibiotics resulted in no significant adhesion to the slabs. The study demonstrates that TA binds tightly to dental tissues while retaining its bactericidal properties.

Recent advances in the social and developmental biology of the myxobacteria.

“…Antibiotic TA is a broad-spectrum antibiotic with the unusual property of sticking tenaciously to surfaces, either of substrata or of cells (199). This has made it an obvious candidate for clinical applications requiring a high, persistent local concentration of antimicrobial activity (149,150). Antibiotic TA is probably one of the many variants of myxovirescin, a class of antibiotics produced by many strains of M. xanthus and M. virescens (191).…”

Myxovirescin A Biosynthesis is Directed by Hybrid Polyketide Synthases/Nonribosomal Peptide Synthetase, 3‐Hydroxy‐3‐Methylglutaryl–CoA Synthases, and trans‐Acting Acyltransferases

“…[13][14][15][16] In addition to their antimicrobial activity, myxovirescins are exceptionally adhesive to a variety of surfaces and dental tissues, which makes them good leads for the treatment of plaque and gingivitis in humans. [17][18][19] The sequencing of several ORFs that belong to the myxovirescin biosynthetic cluster in the red-pigmented Myxococcus xanthus strain ER-15, has been carried out. However, these studies have led to a great underestimation of the size of the biosynthetic gene cluster [20] and have failed to pinpoint the function of individual genes in myxovirescin biosynthesis, as polar effects of the described mutations could not be excluded.…”

Effect of the adhesive antibiotic TA on adhesion and initial growth of E. coli on silicone rubber

“…The TA antibiotic was found in previous studies to adhere to dental hard tissues [18], and in clinical trail to be effective in the treatment of periodontal disease [19], but this is the first study that examined the effect that the TA antibiotic has after adsorption to an inert surface.…”