Colonization of hard and soft surfaces by Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans under hydrodynamic conditions

Abstract

These experimental models may have a great contribution to make in the development of new treatment approaches for periodontal diseases. Colonization by A. actinomycetemcomitans could be studied under flow conditions and its dynamics showed important surface-dependent characteristics.

Interference with Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans: colonization of epithelial cells under hydrodynamic conditions

“…HOK‐18A cells were cultured as previously described (21). This oral epithelial cell line is derived from normal human oral keratinocyte cells and cells were immortalized by transfecting them with recombinant human papillomavirus type 18 DNA (6).…”

“…Samples were removed from the flow chambers at different times after insertion to evaluate the colonization of A. actinomycetemcomitans and the epithelial cell number, as previously described (1, 21). Flow was stopped; discs were taken out of the system and placed in glass bottles containing 0.1% Triton‐X‐100 (Sigma) in PBS.…”

“…A quantitative polymerase chain reaction (QPCR) assay for A. actinomycetemcomitans enabled the determination of their total number, both dead and vital (1, 20). Another QPCR assay was performed to estimate the number of epithelial cells present on the samples (21, 29). Quantification of the epithelial cell number was performed using a single copy gene of the human epithelial cells, the human β‐defensin‐1 gene (11).…”