Peptide Mediated Antimicrobial Dental Adhesive System

Abstract

The most common cause for dental composite failures is secondary caries due to invasive bacterial colonization of the adhesive/dentin (a/d) interface. Innate material weakness often lead to an insufficient seal between the adhesive and dentin. Consequently, bacterial by-products invade the porous a/d interface leading to material degradation and dental caries. Current approaches to achieve antibacterial properties in these materials continue to raise concerns regarding hypersensitivity and antibiotic resistance. Herein, we have developed a multi-faceted, bio-functionalized approach to overcome the vulnerability of such interfaces. An antimicrobial adhesive formulation was designed using a combination of antimicrobial peptide and a ε-polylysine resin system. Effector molecules boasting innate immunity are brought together with a biopolymer offering a two-fold biomimetic design approach. The selection of ε-polylysine was inspired due to its non-toxic nature and common use as food preservative. Biomolecular characterization and functional activity of our engineered dental adhesive formulation were assessed and the combinatorial formulation demonstrated significant antimicrobial activity against Streptococcus mutans. Our antimicrobial peptide-hydrophilic adhesive hybrid system design offers advanced, biofunctional properties at the critical a/d interface.

Antibacterial Effect of the Natural Polymer ε-Polylysine Against Oral Pathogens Associated with Periodontitis and Caries

“…The antibacterial characteristics of ε-polylysine is well established in food industry and it is increasingly being applied in biomedicine in recent years [ 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 ]. Few studies have utilized ε-polylysine for dental application purposes, including composite [ 23 , 24 ], dental adhesive [ 25 ], implant surface modification [ 26 ] and antimicrobials [ 27 , 28 ]. However, the effect of ε-polylysine on P. gingivalis is less studied and the investigating methods of its antibacterial effectiveness against oral microorganisms were limited primarily to inhibition of planktonic bacterial growth.…”

Emerging Contact-Killing Antibacterial Strategies for Developing Anti-Biofilm Dental Polymeric Restorative Materials

“…In a separate study, a dental adhesive containing 3% nisin inhibited a multispecies biofilm and the extracellular polysaccharide production without affecting the degree of conversion and the micro-tensile bond strength [ 103 ]. Another study found that the incorporation of GH12, GH12-M1, and GH12-M2 peptides in dental adhesive formulation increased the antibacterial effectiveness against S. mutans biofilm [ 104 ]. As AMPs are susceptible to degradation, it would be useful for future studies to consider the long-term evaluation of their antimicrobial and mechanical properties.…”

Harnessing biomolecules for bioinspired dental biomaterials

“…124 An alternative approach is the conjugation of AMPs with methacrylates to render them photopolymerizable for incorporation into dental resins. This approach 125,126 has been performed with GH12 (designed de novo 127 ) and shown to imbue the resins with antimicrobial activity while not affecting bulk mechanical properties. Another group has also incorporated an AMP derived from b defensin-3, a commonly used AMP detailed later, into an adhesive and showed disruption of S. mutans biofilms.…”