Physico-chemical interactions in initial microbial adhesion and relevance for biofilm formation

This paper summarizes initial microbial adhesion events in dental plaque formation, including the physico-chemistry of the interaction between micro-organisms and solid substrata, detachment phenomena under the fluctuating shear of the oral cavity, co-adhesion between pairs of microbial strains, and biosurfactant release. A hypothesis is forwarded on how these initial events might influence the final microbial composition and structure of the plaque, although it is simultaneously emphasized that the necessary techniques for verification of the hypothesis have only recently become available, and supporting evidence is still to be collected.</p

The use of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy for the study of oral streptococcal cell surfaces.

Physicochemical and structural properties of microbial cell surfaces play an important role in their adhesion to surfaces and are determined by the chemical composition of the outermost cell surface. Many traditional methods used to determine microbial cell wall composition require fractionation of the organisms and consequently do not yield information about the composition of the outermost cell surface. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measures the elemental composition of the outermost cell surfaces of micro-organisms. The technique requires freeze-drying of the organisms, but, nevertheless, elemental surface concentration ratios of oral streptococcal cell surfaces with peritrichously arranged surface structures showed good relationships with physicochemical properties measured under physiological conditions, such as zeta potentials. Isoelectric points appeared to be governed by the relative abundance of oxygen- and nitrogen-containing groups on the cell surfaces. Also, the intrinsic microbial cell-surface hydrophobicity by water contact angles related to the cell-surface composition as by XPS and was highest for strains with an elevated isoelectric point. Inclusion of elemental surface compositions for tufted streptococcal strains caused deterioration of the relationships found. Interestingly, hierarchical cluster analysis on the basis of the elemental surface compositions revealed that, of 36 different streptococcal strains, only four S. rattus as well as nine S. mitis strains were located in distinct groups, well separated from the other streptococcal strains, which were all more or less mixed in one group.</p

Staphylococcus aureus-Fibronectin Interactions with and without Fibronectin-Binding Proteins and Their Role in Adhesion and Desorption

Adhesion and residence-time-dependent desorption of two Staphylococcus aureus strains with and without fibronectin (Fn) binding proteins (FnBPs) on Fn-coated glass were compared under flow conditions. To obtain a better understanding of the role of Fn-FnBP binding, the adsorption enthalpies of Fn with staphylococcal cell surfaces were determined using isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). Interaction forces between staphylococci and Fn coatings were measured using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The strain with FnBPs adhered faster and initially stronger to an Fn coating than the strain without FnBPs, and its Fn adsorption enthalpies were higher. The initial desorption was high for both strains but decreased substantially within 2 s. These time scales of staphylococcal bond ageing were confirmed by AFM adhesion force measurement. After exposure of either Fn coating or staphylococcal cell surfaces to bovine serum albumin (BSA), the adhesion of both strains to Fn coatings was reduced, suggesting that BSA suppresses not only nonspecific but also specific Fn-FnBP interactions. Adhesion forces and adsorption enthalpies were only slightly affected by BSA adsorption. This implies that under the mild contact conditions of convective diffusion in a flow chamber, adsorbed BSA prevents specific interactions but does allow forced Fn-FnBP binding during AFM or stirring in ITC. The bond strength energies calculated from retraction force-distance curves from AFM were orders of magnitude higher than those calculated from desorption data, confirming that a penetrating Fn-coated AFM tip probes multiple adhesins in the outermost cell surface that remain hidden during mild landing of an organism on an Fn-coated substratum, like that during convective diffusional flow

Factors determining social participation in the first year after kidney transplantation: a prospective study

BACKGROUND: This study describes changes in social participation in the first year after kidney transplantation and examines the influence of clinical factors, health status, transplantation-related symptoms, and psychological characteristics on change in social participation. METHODS: A prospective study was performed on a cohort of primary kidney transplant recipients, transplanted between March 2002 and March 2003. Data on participation in obligatory activities (i.e., employment, education, household tasks) and leisure activities (i.e., volunteer work, assisting others, sports, clubs/associations, recreation, socializing, going out) were collected by in-home interviews (n=61) at 3 months (T1) and 1 year posttransplantation (T2). Analysis of covariance was performed. RESULTS: Data showed an increase in participation in obligatory activities and diversity of leisure participation between T1 and T2, although pre-end-stage renal disease level was not regained and differed from the general population. On T1, the majority of employed recipients were on sick leave, but returned to work on T2. Employment rate remained stable. An increase in obligatory participation was predicted by clinical factors (i.e., peritoneal dialysis, initial hospitalization), whereas change in leisure participation was related to serum albumin and cognitive capacity. No effects were found for type of donation, comorbidity, and renal function. CONCLUSIONS: We found that mainly clinical factors were associated with an increase in participation in society. Although health-status related factors and the psychological attribute self-efficacy may be related to recovery of social participation, their effect was outweighed by the strength of clinical predictors in multivariate analysis

A comparison of bacterial growth inhibiting effects of six commercially available mouthrinses

In this study the bacterial growth inhibiting effects of six commercially available mouthrinses (Hibident® Prodent® Merocet® Listerine® Veadent® and Meridol® were determined. Hibident® was used as a positive control. Five strains were tested (Streptococcus mutans C67, Streptococcus sanguis CH3, Veillonella alcalescens V1, Lactobacillus acidophilus JP and Actinomyces viscosus C74), as representatives of the supragingival human microflora. The Maximal Inhibiting Dilution (MID) was measured in batch cultures for each product and strain. With respect to the positive control, Hibident® (containing 0.2 per cent chlorhexidine), the most effective product was Meridol® (containing 125 ppm aminefluoride 297 and 125 ppm stannous fluoride) followed by Merocet® (containing 0.05 per cent cetylpyridinium chloride), Veadent® (containing 0.03 per cent sanguinarine), Listerine® (containing phenolic compounds) and Prodent® (containing 0.5 per cent sodium fluoride). Although all products have been separately reported to yield a plaque reduction in vivo, this study provides a firm basis for a comparison between products, as they were all evaluated in a similar way.</p

On the relative importance of specific and non-specific approaches to oral microbial adhesion

In this paper, it is suggested that specificity and non-specificity in (oral) microbial adhesion are different expressions for the same phenomena. It is argued that the same basic, physico-chemical forces are responsible for so-called 'non-specific' and 'specific' binding and that from a physico-chemical point of view the distinction between the two is an artificial one. Non-specific interactions arise from Van der Waals and electrostatic forces and hydrogen bonding, and originate from the entire cell. A specific bond consists of a combination of the same type of Van der Waals and electrostatic forces and hydrogen bonding, now originating from highly localized chemical groups, which together form a stereo-chemical combination. The absence or presence of specific receptor sites on microbial cell surfaces must therefore be reflected in the overall, non-specific surface properties of cells as well. This point is illustrated by showing that glucanbinding lectins on mutans streptococcal strains may determine the pH dependence of the zeta potentials of these cells. When studying microbial adhesion, a non-specific approach may be better suited to explain adhesion to inert substrata, whereas a specific approach may be preferred in case of adhesion to adsorbed protein films. Adhesion is, however, not as important in plaque formation in the human oral cavity as is retention, because low shear force periods. during which adhesion presumably occurs, are followed by high shear force periods, during which adhering cells must withstand these detachment forces. Evidence is provided that such detachment will be through cohesive failure in the pellicle mass, the properties of which are conditioned by the overall, non-specific substratum properties. Therefore, in vivo plaque formation may be more readily explained by a non-specific approach.</p

Microbial adhesion to surface-grafted polyacrylamide brushes after long-term exposure to PBS and reconstituted freeze-dried saliva

Polyacrylamide (PAAm) brushes, covalently grafted from silicon wafer surfaces were examined for their ability to inhibit microbial adhesion after long-term exposure to PBS or reconstituted freeze-dried saliva for time intervals from 48 h up to 1 month at 37 degrees C. Microbial adhesion after exposure was studied in a parallel plate flow chamber. Infrared spectra showed that PAAm brushes exhibit good chemical stability upon incubation in both PBS and reconstituted freeze-dried saliva up to 1 month. Reductions in microbial adhesion on PAAm brushes after exposure to PBS or reconstituted freeze-dried saliva varied from 63 to 93% depending on the microbial strain considered, even after 1 month of exposure of the brushes to reconstituted freeze-dried saliva. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 94A: 997-1000,2010

Detachment of linking film bacteria from enamel surfaces by oral rinses and penetration of sodium lauryl sulphate through an artificial oral biofilm.

The biofilm mode of growth protects plaque micro-organisms against environmental attacks, such as from antimicrobials or detergents. Dental plaque is linked to enamel through the adhesion of initial colonizers. Once this link is disrupted, the entire plaque mass adhering to it detaches. Experiments in a parallel-plate flow chamber demonstrated that bacteria adhering to saliva-coated enamel could not be stimulated to detach by perfusion of the flow chamber with two traditional mouthrinses (Corsodyl and Scope), whereas perfusion with a prebrushing rinse (Plax) or its detergent components stimulated detachment from saliva-coated enamel of a wide variety of bacterial strains. Following perfusion of the flow chamber with the mouthrinses, little additional detachment of adhering bacteria by the passage of a liquid-air interface occurred. After perfusion with the prebrushing rinse, however, significant numbers of still-adhering bacteria could be stimulated to detach by passage of a liquid-air interface, indicating that Plax had weakened their adhesive bond. The ability of Plax or its detergent components to detach plaque bacteria is not always obvious from in vivo experiments, and reports on its clinical efficacy are inconsistent. Likely, antimicrobials or detergents are unable to penetrate the plaque and reach the linking film bacteria, as demonstrated here by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.</p

Depth profiling of the elemental surface composition of the oral microorganism S. salivarius HB and fibrillar mutants by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy

X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) on microbial cell surfaces requires freeze-drying of cells, and as a result, the cell surface appendages flatten out on the cell surface and form a collapsed fibrillar mass. At present, it is unclear how the density, length and composition of these fibrils influence the elemental surface composition as probed by XPS. The sampling depth of XPS can be varied by changing the electron take-off angle. In this article, we made a depth profiling of the collapsed fibrillar mass of Streptococcus salivarius HB and fibril-deficient mutants by angle-dependent XPS. Methylamine tungstate negative staining and ruthenium red staining followed by sectioning revealed distinct classes of fibrils with various lengths on each of the strains. Interpretation of the angle dependence of the oxygen/carbon (O/C) and phosphorus/carbon (P/C) surface concentration ratios of these strains was difficult. However, the angle dependence of the nitrogen/carbon (N/C) surface concentration ratio could be fully interpreted: N/C did not vary with sampling depth on a bald strain, S. salivarius HBC12 and on S. salivarius HB7, a strain with a dense array of fibrils of uniform length. N/C decreased with sampling depth in case of a sparsely fibrillated strain, S. salivarius HBV51 and eventually reached the value observed for the bald strain, HBC12. A high N/C at small sampling depth was observed for S. salivarius HB with protruding, protein rich fibrils. We conclude that elemental depth profiling of microbial cell surfaces by XPS can be interpreted to coincide with structural and biochemical information on the cell surface as obtained by electron microscopy and can therefore be considered as a useful technique to study structural features of cell surfaces in combination with electron microscopy.</p