Attachment of oral Cytophaga species to hydroxyapatite-containing surfaces

Model systems simulating the cementum portion of teeth were used to characterize the attachment process by which certain species of oral Cytophaga initiate the colonization of the tooth root surface in vitro. The adsorption of these bacteria to spheroidal hydroxyapatite beads and mechanically powdered root material followed Langmuir isotherm kinetics. From such data, the number of binding sites per 20 mg of substrate and the affinity constants were evaluated for two strains of Cytophaga sp. Resting cells of the two strains tested adhered relatively tenaciously to hydroxyapatite beads in numbers similar to those observed with cells of Streptococcus sanguis. Attachment of bacteria to the substrates was partially inhibited by (i) coating the substrates with human serum or saliva, (ii) pretreating cell suspensions with proteinase K or phospholipase C or D, or (iii) exposing the cells to temperatures greater than 60 degrees C for 15 min. Treating resting cell suspensions with pronase, neuraminidase, phospholipase A2, or 0.1 M ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid had no effect on the attachment process.