Strategies for mentor matching: lessons learned.

Mentoring serves to guide early stage researchers toward opportunities which can further their careers. The most beneficial mentoring experience occurs when both the mentor and mentee share a common background and have appropriate expectations. Our CTSA serves individuals in a five state region with widely disparate needs and we have often struggled to provide appropriate guidance for those requesting mentoring services.

Expanding assessments of translational research programs: supplementing metrics with value judgments.

The University of Washington (UW) Institute for Translational Health Sciences (ITHS), funded by a Clinical and Translational Sciences Award program, has supplemented its initial Kellogg Logic Model-based program evaluation with the eight judgment-based evaluative elements of the World Health Organization's (WHO) Health Services Assessment Model. This article describes the relationship between the two models, the rationale for the decision to supplement the evaluation with WHO evaluative elements, the value-added results of the WHO evaluative elements, and plans for further developing the WHO assessments.

PAR1- and PAR2-induced innate immune markers are negatively regulated by PI3K/Akt signaling pathway in oral keratinocytes.

Background: Protease-Activated Receptors (PARs), members of G-protein-coupled receptors, are activated by proteolytic activity of various proteases. Activation of PAR1 and PAR2 triggers innate immune responses in human oral keratinocytes (HOKs), but the signaling pathways downstream of PAR activation in HOKs have not been clearly defined. In this study, we aimed to determine if PAR1- and PAR2-mediated signaling differs in the induction of innate immune markers CXCL3, CXCL5 and CCL20 via ERK, p38 and PI3K/Akt.

Effect of implant surface and grafting on implants placed into simulated extraction sockets: a histologic study in dogs.

Purpose: To study bone healing at implant sites in simulated extraction sockets with 1-mm marginal defects and compare healing around a turned surface (T) to that around a porous oxide surface prepared by anodic oxidation (AO) with or without the use of an autogenous bone graft.

Materials And Methods: All mandibular premolars and first molars were extracted from 10 mongrel dogs. After 9 weeks, four sites were prepared on both sides of all mandibles.

Differential and coordinated expression of defensins and cytokines by gingival epithelial cells and dendritic cells in response to oral bacteria.

Background: Epithelial cells and dendritic cells (DCs) both initiate and contribute to innate immune responses to bacteria. However, much less is known about the coordinated regulation of innate immune responses between GECs and immune cells, particularly DCs in the oral cavity. The present study was conducted to investigate whether their responses are coordinated and are bacteria-specific in the oral cavity.

Evaluation of the use of ultrasound within a power toothbrush to dislodge oral bacteria using an in vitro Streptococcus mutans biofilm model.

Purpose: To investigate in vitro the use of ultrasound in a power toothbrush to aid in the removal of dental plaque biofilm without bristle contact.

Methods: Dental plaque was modeled using Streptococcus mutans biofilm adherent to hydroxyapatite disks. Treatment arms included positive and negative controls, disks with and without biofilm, respectively.

Interplay of protease-activated receptors and NOD pattern recognition receptors in epithelial innate immune responses to bacteria.

Protease-activated receptors (PARs), nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain (NOD) receptors and Toll-like receptors (TLRs) play a role in innate immunity, but little is known about interaction between these receptors. The goal of this study was to investigate how silencing one receptor affects the expression of other receptors and downstream innate immune markers in response to bacteria. Human gingival epithelial cells (GECs) were transfected with siRNA specific for PAR1 or PAR2, then stimulated with periopathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis, bridging organism between pathogens and non-pathogens Fusobacterium nucleatum, or non-pathogen Streptococcus gordonii.

Differential effects of periopathogens on host protease inhibitors SLPI, elafin, SCCA1, and SCCA2.

Objective: Secretory leukocyte peptidase inhibitors (SLPI), elafin, squamous cell carcinoma antigen 1 and 2 (SCCA1 and SCCA2) are specific endogenous serine protease inhibitors expressed by epithelial cells that prevent tissue damage from excessive proteolytic enzyme activity due to inflammation. To determine the effects of various periopathogens on these protease inhibitors, we utilized human gingival epithelial cells (GECs) challenged with cell-free bacteria supernatants of various periopathogens Porphyromonas gingivalis, Tannerella forsythia, Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans, and Fusobacterium nucleatum.

Design: The gene expression and secretion of SLPI, elafin, SCCA1, and SCCA2 were determined using real-time PCR and ELISA, respectively.

Association of a genetic polymorphism (-44 C/G SNP) in the human DEFB1 gene with expression and inducibility of multiple beta-defensins in gingival keratinocytes.

Background: Human beta-defensins (hBDs) are antimicrobial peptides with a role in innate immune defense. Our laboratory previously showed that a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the 5' untranslated region of the hBD1 gene (DEFB1), denoted -44 (rs1800972), is correlated with protection from oral Candida. Because this SNP alters the putative mRNA structure, we hypothesized that it alters hBD1 expression.

Phospholipase C, p38/MAPK, and NF-kappaB-mediated induction of MIP-3alpha/CCL20 by Porphyromonas gingivalis.

Macrophage inflammatory protein-3alpha/C-C chemokine ligand 20 (MIP-3alpha/CCL20) is an antimicrobial peptide that plays an important role in innate immunity. In addition to direct microbicidal effects, MIP-3alpha/CCL20 also exhibits cytokine-like functions that are critical during dendritic cell activation. The aim of the present study was to investigate further which signaling pathways are involved in the MIP-3alpha/CCL20 mRNA expression in response to whole-cell Porphyromonas gingivalis.

Modulation of expression of innate immunity markers CXCL5/ENA-78 and CCL20/MIP3alpha by protease-activated receptors (PARs) in human gingival epithelial cells.

Protease-activated receptors (PARs) are G-protein-coupled receptors with an active role in host defense. The two most highly expressed members of the PAR family in gingival epithelial cells (GECs) are PAR1 and PAR2. The major virulence factors of periodontal pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis are its proteases which can activate PAR2.

Sonic tooth brushing reduces gingival overgrowth in renal transplant recipients.

Cyclosporine (CSA) is a commonly used immunosuppressive medication in pediatric transplantation. Drug-induced gingival overgrowth (DIGO) is a frequent side effect associated with CSA use and can impair the patient's ability to achieve good oral hygiene. This study tested the hypothesis that sonic tooth brushing and oral hygiene instruction can reduce the occurrence or severity of DIGO in CSA-treated pediatric renal transplant recipients.

Periodontal disease pathogenesis: genetic risk factors and paradigm shift.

Periodontitis is a widespread disease caused by oral bacteria and their interaction with lifestyle and genetic risk factors. The focus of periodontal research has expanded over the past few years to include significant progress in the understanding of genetic processes provided by the Human Genome Project. This presentation summarizes recent views on periodontal pathogenesis and the genetic risk factors involved in the disease.

Clinical effects of scaling and root planing on untreated teeth.

Objective: The aim of this report is to examine whether scaling and root planing (SRP) in one area of the mouth may affect periodontal improvement in untreated areas in the same patient, possibly through systemic effects of treatment.

Material And Methods: Twenty patients diagnosed with generalized aggressive periodontitis were randomized into treatment (n=11) and no treatment (n=9) groups. Within the treatment group, three quadrants were treated by SRP at week 0, 3, 12, and 24, while a single experimental quadrant remained untreated throughout the study.