Differential Modulation of Saliva-Derived Microcosm Biofilms by Antimicrobial Peptide LL-31 and D-LL-31.

Microbiome modulation, aiming to restore a health-compatible microbiota, is a novel strategy to treat periodontitis. This study evaluated the modulation effects of antimicrobial peptide LL-31 and its D-enantiomer (D-LL-31) on saliva-derived microcosm biofilms, spiked with or without . To this end, one-day-old biofilms were incubated for 24 h with biofilm medium alone, or medium containing 40 µM LL-31 or D-LL-31, after which biofilms were grown for 5 days.

Fungal mycobiome-mediated immune response: a non-negligible promoter in pancreatic oncogenesis and chemoresistance.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is one of the most lethal cancers in humans due to late diagnosis and poor response to treatments. The tumor microenvironment (TME) of PDAC is characterized by a distinctive, suppressive immune profile, which inhibits the protective functions of anti-tumor immunity and thereby contributes to PDAC progression. Recently, the study of Alam discovered for the first time that the intratumoral fungal mycobiome could contribute to the recruitment and activation of type 2 immune cells in the TME of PDAC via enhancing the secretion of a chemoattractant, interleukin (IL-) 33.

Asymmetric spin splitting of Laguerre-Gaussian beams in chiral PT-symmetric metamaterials.

We systematically study the spin Hall effect of light (SHEL) in chiral PT-symmetric metamaterials when Laguerre Gaussian beams (LG beams) are incident and discover that cross-polarization (r, r) and intrinsic orbital angular momentum (IOAM) result in an asymmetric splitting of left-spin circularly polarized (LCP) light and right-spin circularly polarized (RCP) light. Additionally, there are spin Hall shift peaks near |r | ≪ |r | (r and r are Fresnel reflection coefficients). Altering the topological charge number ℓ, the chiral parameter κ, the dimensionless frequency M, and the incident angle θ may also influence the asymmetric spin splitting and displacement peak.

Experimental generation of the polycyclic tornado circular swallowtail beam with self-healing and auto-focusing.

In this paper, the polycyclic tornado circular swallowtail beam (PTCSB) with autofocusing and self-healing properties is generated numerically and experimentally and their properties are investigated. Compared with the circular swallowtail beam (CSB), the optical distribution of the PTCSB presents a tornado pattern during the propagation. The number of spiral stripes, as well as the orientation of the rotation, can be adjusted by the number and the sign of the topological charge.

Adjuvant Chemotherapy May Not Be Necessary for Women with Stage IC1 Epithelial Ovarian Cancer.

Objective: To determine whether adjuvant chemotherapy improves the prognoses in women with stage IC1 epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC).

Methods: All eligible women diagnosed with stage IC1 EOC from 2003 to 2019 in Tongji Hospital were included. Patient characteristics, tumor features, surgical types, and chemotherapeutic treatments were collected.

Reprocessing 16S rRNA Gene Amplicon Sequencing Studies: (Meta)Data Issues, Robustness, and Reproducibility.

High-throughput sequencing technology provides an efficient method for evaluating microbial ecology. Different bioinformatics pipelines can be used to convert 16S ribosomal RNA gene amplicon sequencing data into an operational taxonomic unit (OTU) table that is used to analyze microbial communities. It is important to assess the robustness of these pipelines, each with specific algorithms and/or parameters, and their influence on the outcome of statistical tests.

Comparison of Red-Complex Bacteria Between Saliva and Subgingival Plaque of Periodontitis Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.

The development of periodontitis is associated with an imbalanced subgingival microbial community enriched with species such as the traditionally classified red-complex bacteria (, , and ). Saliva has been suggested as an alternative to subgingival plaque for the microbial analysis due to its easy and non-invasive collection. This systematic review aims to determine whether the levels of red-complex bacteria assessed using saliva reflect those in subgingival plaque from periodontitis patients.

Saliva-derived microcosm biofilms grown on different oral surfaces in vitro.

The microbial composition of a specific oral niche could be influenced by initial bacterial adherence, nutrient and physiological property of the local surface. To investigate the influence of nutrient and surface properties on microbial composition, saliva-derived biofilms were grown in agar on three substrata: Reconstructed Human Gingiva (RHG), a hydroxyapatite (HAP) surface, and a titanium (TI) surface. Agar was mixed with either Brain Heart Infusion (BHI) or Thompson (TP) medium.

Synergetic antimicrobial effect of chlorin e6 and hydrogen peroxide on multi-species biofilms.

Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) has been considered as a potential alternative to antibiotics for the treatment of biofilm infections. There is evidence that an additional HO enhances the antimicrobial efficacy of aPDT. However, the minimum HO concentration to achieve this synergistic effect is unclear.

Spin Hall effect of Laguerre-Gaussian beams in PT symmetric metamaterials.

Spin Hall effect (SHE) of Laguerre-Gaussian (LG) beams reflected and transmitted in parity-time (PT) symmetric metamaterials are investigated near the coherent-perfect-absorption (CPA)-laser point and exceptional points (EPs). The numerical results show that large transverse shifts occur at the CPA-laser point regardless of the incident direction. But at EPs, the SHE increases at one side and disappears at the other side, thus achieving the intense SHE of the reflected light beams at the specified side incidence.

Manipulation of Saliva-Derived Microcosm Biofilms To Resemble Dysbiotic Subgingival Microbiota.

Periodontitis is a highly prevalent oral inflammatory disease triggered by dysbiotic subgingival microbiota. For the development of microbiome modulators that can reverse the dysbiotic state and reestablish a health-associated microbiota, a high-throughput multispecies biofilm model is needed. Our aim is to establish a model that resembles a dysbiotic subgingival microbial biofilm by incorporating the major periodontal pathogen into microcosm biofilms cultured from pooled saliva of healthy volunteers.

The Role of the Microbiome in Cancer and Therapy Efficacy: Focus on Lung Cancer.

The microbiome is extremely important for human health; more recently its role in the context of cancer became clear. Microbial effects range from enhancing cancer immunity and cancer therapy efficacy, to promoting cancer progression and inhibiting treatment efficacy. These broad implications led researchers to investigate these specific interactions, as well as how modification of the microbiome can improve cancer survival and treatment efficacy.

Photodynamic inactivation mediated by methylene blue or chlorin e6 against Streptococcus mutans biofilm.

Background: An appropriate photosensitizer (PS) for photodynamic inactivation should have a pronounced antimicrobial efficacy but low dark toxicity. The aim of this study is to investigate the concentration-dependent antimicrobial efficacies of methylene blue (MB) and chlorin e6 (Ce6), against Streptococcus mutans biofilms and to compare the efficacies of these two PSs.

Methods: The 48-h S.

Dynamic regulation of nonlocal effect and nonlocal degree in gyromagnetic metamaterials with an applied magnetic field.

We report dynamic regulation of nonlocal degree, nonlocal effects and spatial dispersion characteristics for transverse electric (TE) waves in periodic layered gyromagnetic metamaterials (PLGMs) by an applied magnetic field. A nonlocal effective permeability tensor, relying on both frequency and wave vector, is derived by expanding the accurate dispersion relation obtained by the transfer-matrix method (TMM) to high-order terms. The numerical results indicate that the degree of nonlocality of electromagnetic response in such PLGMs is closely dependent on the ratio between the period of PLGMs and the working wavelength.

Genetic Loci Associated With Fluoride Resistance in .

The prolonged exposure of the cariogenic bacterial species to high concentrations of fluoride leads to the development of fluoride resistance in this species. Previous studies confirmed the involvement of a mutation in a single chromosomal region in the occurrence of fluoride resistance. The involvement of multiple genomic mutations has not been verified.

Effects of bacterial physiological states and bacterial species on host-microbe interactions.

This study investigated how the physiological states of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans (Aa) and Streptococcus mitis affect their intracellular invasion capabilities and the resulting host cell responses. The physiological states included two forms of planktonic states, floating or sedimented (by centrifugation) and the biofilm state (with centrifugation). Confluent epithelial Ca9-22 cells were challenged with floating or sedimented planktonic cultures, or with 24-h biofilms for 3 h.

The Fitness Cost of Fluoride Resistance for Different Strains in Biofilms.

The cariogenic bacterium can develop stable resistance to fluoride through chromosomal mutations . Fluoride-resistant has seldom been isolated in clinical settings, despite the wide application of fluoride in oral-care products. One explanation is that the fluoride-resistant strains have decreased fitness.

Fluoride resistance in : a mini review.

For decades, fluoride has been used extensively as an anti-caries agent. It not only protects dental hard tissue, but also inhibits bacterial growth and metabolism. The antimicrobial action of fluoride is shown in three main aspects: the acidogenicity, acidurance, and adherence to the tooth surface.

A Single Nucleotide Change in the Promoter mutp Enhances Fluoride Resistance of Streptococcus mutans.

Previously, we identified a single nucleotide mutation in the promoter (mutp) of the fluoride antiporter-coding genes in a naturally fluoride-resistant Streptococcus mutans strain. Here, we studied the role of this mutation in a defined genetic background. The results confirmed that this mutation alone confers fluoride resistance on S.