Oral Biofilms
and dental disease research
All bacteria occupy natural niches in which they proliferate. Organisms that can be isolated from the environment present a concern as opportunistic pathogens which grow as biofilms in wounds. Likewise, the bacteria that make up the flora of the oral cavity have complex relationships within biofilms that ultimately contribute to pathogenesis in the oral cavity as well as in other organs of the body. In order to study such relationships among bacteria, it is necessary to inoculate and culture the organism under shear flow.
The BioFlux system is a microfluidic platform designed to run automated shear flow protocols for cell biology and microbiology experiments in high throughput.
With a 60 second exposure to a solution with pH neutral L-arginine monohydrochloride (LAHCl), oral multi-species biofilms developed in flowing cell free saliva (CFS) reduced in volume. LAHCI enhances antimicrobial effectiveness of cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC). The figure shows 20 hour old biofilms developed from pooled cell-containing saliva (CCS) in flowing CFS in a BioFlux system. Green signal represents live cells whereas the red signal represents dead or damaged cells (Rickard et al., 2015).
Comparisons of different abundances of bacteria genera are shown color-coded above, as well as the impact of CFS and LAHCI on the bacteria biovolume. The far right bar shows the magnified view of the CFS and LAHCI treatment (Rickard et al., 2015).
Key BioFlux Advantages For Oral Biofilm Studies
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The BioFlux does not require the use of artificial media or defined species during any point of the experiment
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In vitro techniques perfectly mimic the flowing conditions that occur in the human oral cavity, such as pH, temperature, shear, and overall saliva properties
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Microfluidic channels have no need for large pools of saliva as a media source, unlike larger systems such as flowcells or constant depth film fermentors (CDFFs)
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Allow for analysis of both short and long term effects of foreign substances on the biofilm by utilizing continuous, controlled flow and fresh nutrients for the channels
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View the impact of anti-biofilm and antimicrobial substances on biofilms to study antibiotic tolerance and susceptibility