Anatomy, biogenesis and regeneration of salivary glands.

An overview of the anatomy and biogenesis of salivary glands is important in order to understand the physiology, functions and disorders associated with saliva. A major disorder of salivary glands is salivary hypofunction and resulting xerostomia, or dry mouth, which affects hundreds of thousands of patients each year who suffer from salivary gland diseases or undergo head and neck cancer treatment. There is currently no curative therapy for these patients.

Hybrid nanotopographical surfaces obtained by biomimetic mineralization of statherin-inspired elastin-like recombinamers.

Modification of surfaces mimicking unique chemical and physical features of mineralized tissues is of major interest for obtaining biomaterials for replacing and regenerating biological tissues. Here, human salivary statherin-inspired genetically engineered recombinamers (ELRs, HSS) on biomedical surfaces regulates mineralization to form an amorphous-calcium-phosphate (ACP) layer that reproduces the original substrate nanotopography. The HSS-ELRs carry a statherin-derived peptide with high affinity to tooth enamel.

Bio-inspired stable antimicrobial peptide coatings for dental applications.

We developed a novel titanium coating that has applications for preventing infection-related implant failures in dentistry and orthopedics. The coating incorporates an antimicrobial peptide, GL13K, derived from parotid secretory protein, which has been previously shown to be bactericidal and bacteriostatic in solution. We characterized the resulting physicochemical properties, resistance to degradation, activity against Porphyromonas gingivalis and in vitro cytocompatibility.