In Vitro Dental Plaque Culture Model for Biofilm Structural Analyses

Background:

In vitro oral microcosm communities, seeded with mixed communities of human dental plaque, have proven to be essential tools for studying the taxonomic composition of dental plaque communities and changes in community composition in response to specific perturbations. Compositional analyses of these models indicate they support the growth of many dozens of organisms in co-culture. Unfortunately, these models are usually grown in media that may not be representative of human saliva or gingivocrevicular fluid, and may be grown on optically opaque surfaces such as hydroxyapatite or other materials that are incompatible with high resolution, multispectral fluorescence imaging.

Technology Overview:

This technology is an in vitro dental plaque model for culturing oral biofilms seeded with dental plaque from human volunteers. It uses a custom growth media that better recapitulates the nutritional environment in which dental plaque bacteria live at the gingival margin, the transitional zone that discriminates the dental plaque above and below the gumline. It also uses an optically transparent substrate on which to culture the dental plaque, in the form of a microscope coverslip. The model allows for precise manipulation of various environmental conditions, such as flow rate and nutrient availability, to investigate their effects on biofilm development and spatial structure. It can also be used to test the effects of various therapeutic interventions, such as antimicrobial agents.

Advantages:

•    Better recapitulates the nutritional environment in which dental plaque bacteria live.
•    Uses an optically transparent substrate.
•    Allows for precise manipulation of various environmental conditions.
•    Can be used to test the effects of various therapeutic interventions.

Applications:

The primary application for this technology is studying the molecular and cellular basis of dental plaque-mediated diseases.

Patent Status

Stage of Development:

TRL 3 – Experimental proof of concept

Licensing Status:

This technology is available for licensing.

Licensing Potential:

This technology would be of interest to entities involved in studying dental plaque-mediated diseases. These include:
•    Medical and dental treatment facilities.
•    Dental disease research laboratories.
•    Pharmaceutical companies.
•    Medical educational institutions.