The properties of an aminopeptidase (AP) from Fusobacteriurn nucleaturn were studied in view of the fact that this organism, along with other Gram-negative anaerobes involved in periodontal diseases, survives in the subgingival environment by obtaining energy via the fermentation of a small number of peptide-derived amino acids. The AP was found to be cell-associated and was isolated from disrupted chemostat-grown cells. It was purified by (NHJ, SO, fractionation, two column chromatographic steps and IEF. The enzyme was found to have a molecular mass of 54 kDa, a pl of 51, a pH optimum between 7.5 and 89 and, using Leu-Ala as substrate, it gave K,,, and V;, values of 0.66 mM and 012 pmol min'l mg-l, respectively. No complete homology was found between the N-terminal sequence of the first 20 amino acids (MDXKXYVDLKERFLRYVKFN .. .) and any other published sequence, but residues &20 gave a 62% match with residues 9-21 of an AP from Haernophilus influenzae. The enzyme was inactivated by chelating agents, bestatin, phydroxymercuribenzoate and some heavy metals. Cobalt ions restored EDTAinactivated activity but did not reverse inhibition by 1,lO-phenanthroline. In addition, bestatin and 1,lO-phenanthroline had an inhibitory effect on the batch growth of F. nucleaturn in a complex medium in which peptidase activities would be nutritionally essential. No such inhibition was observed in a chemically defined medium in which growth was not dependent upon peptidase activities. The peptidase described in this paper therefore appears t o be a cobalt-activated metallo-AP which, together with other peptidases, is considered to be important in the survival of F. nucleaturn in the subgingival environment of the mouth.

The heat cured acrylic resin is common used as denture base material, but its microporosity can affect the cleanliness of the denture base lead to accumulation of plaque and food waste, and further increase the number of Candida albicans and cause denture stomatitis. There are 2 type of cleaning agents; natural cleaning agents, such as basil and chemical cleaning agents, for example effervescent artificial cleaning tablets. This study compared the effectiveness of basil leaves squeeze and effervescent denture cleaning solutions in soaking heat cured acrylic resin plates on the growth of C. albicans. There were 24 of 10x10x1 mm acrylic resin plates divided into 6 treatment groups. The acrylic resin plate was soaked in the basil leaves squeeze and effervescent denture cleaning solutions. Measurement of C. albicans absorbance used a spectrophotometer, then calculated the total of C. albicans using the formula. Data was analyzed using the One Way ANOVA test. The analysis showed that there are significant differences on the growth inhibition of C. albicans between treatment groups (p <0.005). The effervescent denture cleansing solution has a better antifungal effectiveness than the basil leaves

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Background: Inflammation is a mechanism or reaction of the natural immune system to defend from external hazards. All foreign objects that enter the body will trigger an immune response in the form of antibodies. In Indonesia, the prevalence of diseases that involve the inflammatory process in the body is high. Freeze-dried hydroxyapatite gypsum puger (HAGP) scaffold is a gypsum powder which is currently under development as a bone replacement material. Freeze-dried hydroxyapatite bovine (HAB) scaffold is a bone substitute material available on the market. Objective: To analyze the inflammatory and immunogenic responses in the tissue after application of freeze-dried HAGP scaffold compared to freeze-dried HAB scaffold through mediators of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and immunoglobulin G (IgG) in rats. Materials and Methods: This study used Wistar rats. HAGP group and HAB group were applied subcutaneously, settled for 7 and 14 days, then the levels of TNF-α and IgG were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Statistical analysis was done using nonparametric test with the Kruskal–Wallis test. Results: TNF-α levels at day 7 in the HAGP group were nearly equal to the control group, while those in the HAB group were higher. Statistically, the significance was P = 0.184 ( P > 0.05). At the 14 th day, the level of IgG on the HAGP and HAB groups the level was higher than the control group, statistically it was found P = 0.127. Conclusion: freeze-dried HAGP scaffold compared to freeze-dried HAB scaffold did not cause inflammatory and immunogenic response on rats through mediators of TNF-α and IgG.