Functional signatures of ex-vivo dental caries onset

Area of Science:

• Microbiome research
• Dental caries etiology
• Metabolomics

Background:

• Dental caries etiology is poorly understood, with inconsistent taxonomic associations found in microbial studies.
• Identifying conserved functional pathways in oral microbiome is crucial for understanding caries onset.
• Distinguishing cause from consequence in microbiome changes related to dental caries is a key challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

• To define conserved functional signatures at the onset of dental caries.
• To develop and utilize an innovative longitudinal ex-vivo model for early caries detection.
• To integrate advanced bioimaging, sequencing, and metabolomics for comprehensive analysis.

Main Methods:

• Developed a longitudinal ex-vivo model to study early dental caries.
• Employed non-invasive multiphoton second harmonic generation bioimaging for real-time monitoring.
• Utilized 16S rRNA sequencing and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based targeted metabolomics.

Main Results:

• Successfully induced and longitudinally monitored caries lesions, validated by scanning electron microscopy.
• Identified five differentiating metabolites at caries onset: upregulated Lactate, Pyruvate, Dihydroxyacetone phosphate, Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, and downregulated Fumarate.
• Observed co-occurrence of these metabolites with specific bacterial taxa (Streptococcus, Veillonella, Actinomyces, Porphyromonas, Fusobacterium, Granulicatella).

Conclusions:

• The identified metabolites and bacterial taxa represent potential conserved functional signatures at the earliest stage of dental caries.
• These findings provide crucial insights into the etiology and dynamics of dental caries.
• This research paves the way for developing targeted interventions to prevent caries progression.