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Bacteria target weak spots in the ligaments of your mouth

by Tess Hutchinson

Using extremely bright light from the Canadian Light Source at the University of Saskatchewan, Wilfrid Laurier University researchers have advanced our understanding of how a specific group of bacteria in the human mouth contributes to disease periodontal.

Dr. Michael Suits and his colleagues focused on a group of three different bacteria – commonly referred to as the “red complex” – as major contributors to infections and inflammation in the gums and bones that surround and support the teeth. Using the CLS’s CMCF beamline, the team was able to examine the atomic details of a cluster of proteins from one of the bacteria that make up the red complex.

They found that the proteins encoded in the cluster help break down long chains of carbohydrates – one of the complex molecules that make up part of the ligaments that hold your teeth together. This finding could eventually lead to the development of new therapies that specifically target bad bacteria in oral biofilms, which are the plaque that forms on your teeth. Biofilms are a mixture of carbohydrates, extracellular DNA, lipids and proteins.

Suits says the space between your teeth and soft tissue is like a warehouse, and bacteria are like the workers inside. The warehouse space gives bacteria room and access to disassemble building components, or periodontal ligaments.

The Suits team produced a crystallized form of the target proteins. By examining them using crystallography and X-ray diffraction analysis, Suits was able to learn more about how the red complex supports itself and attacks the tissues of the oral cavity.

“It (the CLS) gave us unique insight,” says Suits. “The level of detail we’re getting from the synchrotron is unprecedented… It’s kind of a glimpse not under a microscope, but under a super-microscope, to really see what these proteins look like.”

There are still many questions about red complex bacteria and how member bacteria interact with each other and with the environment, he added.

“There are a lot of unknowns in this system,” Suits said. “Understanding how these things fit together is important, and filling in the blanks with what we don’t understand about what’s going on in the oral cavity is important.”

Reference: Nguyen P, Eshaque R, Garland BA, Dang A, Suits MDL. Degradation of chondroitin sulfate A by a PUL-like operon in Tannerella forsythia. PLOS ONE. 2022;17(9):e0272904. do I: 10.1371/journal.pone.0272904

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