Function-adaptive clustered nanoparticles reverse Streptococcus mutans dental biofilm and maintain microbiota balance

Abstract

Dental plaques are biofilms that cause dental caries by demineralization with acidogenic bacteria. These bacteria reside inside a protective sheath which makes any curative treatment challenging. We propose an antibiotic-free strategy to disrupt the biofilm by engineered clustered carbon dot nanoparticles that function in the acidic environment of the biofilms. In vitro and ex vivo studies on the mature biofilms of Streptococcus mutans revealed >90% biofilm inhibition associated with the contact-mediated interaction of nanoparticles with the bacterial membrane, excessive reactive oxygen species generation, and DNA fragmentation. An in vivo examination showed that these nanoparticles could effectively suppress the growth of S. mutans. Importantly, 16S rRNA analysis of the dental microbiota showed that the diversity and richness of bacterial species did not substantially change with nanoparticle treatment. Overall, this study presents a safe and effective approach to decrease the dental biofilm formation without disrupting the ecological balance of the oral cavity.

Copper Doped Carbon Dots for Addressing Bacterial Biofilm Formation, Wound Infection, and Tooth Staining

“…46−49 Most of these substitution strategies, however, are passive and not suitable for daily and long-term oral use, subject to the natural diffusion of therapeutic materials, limited catalytic efficiency, weak antibacterial properties, 47,50 and external physical stimulation (light sources, magnetic fields), 51−56 and importantly, do not have the ability to disrupt established mature biofilms. 57 To address these issues, here, we design and synthesize copper-doped carbon dots (Cu-CDs) at optimal temperatures with alternative bactericidal, biofilm eradication, wound healing, and whitening activities for oral infectious disease treatment. Importantly, the ultrasmall Cu-CDs have excellent catalase-like (CAT-like) and peroxidase-like (POD-like) activities, thus significantly increase the production of ROS and O 2 in oral cavity, providing a theoretical basis for a series of treatments.…”

“…In response, great efforts have been made for the development of promising alternative options showing broad-spectrum antibacterial activity and nondrug resistance, such as noble metals, metal oxides, carbon-based materials, , and drug-delivery platform. , In particular, carbon quantum dots (CDs), characterized by natural enzyme activity, cell permeability, high stability, excellent biocompatibility and convenient preparation, have created great potential in biolabeling and biomedicine. − Most of these substitution strategies, however, are passive and not suitable for daily and long-term oral use, subject to the natural diffusion of therapeutic materials, limited catalytic efficiency, weak antibacterial properties, , and external physical stimulation (light sources, magnetic fields), − and importantly, do not have the ability to disrupt established mature biofilms …”

Small Molecule NIR‐II Dyes for Switchable Photoluminescence via Host –Guest Complexation and Supramolecular Assembly with Carbon Dots

“…It was understood that the supramolecular assembly, discussed herein, can be better explained by single crystal structures. Although CB inclusion complexes were studied by single crystal geometries, [ 62 , 63 , 64 ] carbon dots are generally amorphous in nature, [ 65 , 66 , 67 , 68 , 69 , 70 , 71 , 72 ] as observed in its powder X‐ray diffraction pattern, and do not crystallize. Hence, the formation of single crystals has not been attempted in this study.…”

Understanding bacterial biofilms: From definition to treatment strategies

“…Therefore, the active development of nanomaterials for treating bacterial biofilm-associated infections has important research implications (Gao et al, 2020M;Yu et al, 2020). Ostadhossein et al (2021) proposed a "particle-in-particle" treatment scheme for the first time. In the absence of antibiotics, they can deliver small therapeutic nanoparticles through simple chemical methods, which can target the characteristic pH of EPS, promote the killing of bacteria mediated by bacterial biofilm pH, and then use nanoparticles to kill caries pathogen S. Under the low pH value, the metabolic state of dental biofilm can produce pathogenicity.…”