Time-Responsive Activity of Engineered Bacteria for Local Sterilization and Biofilm Removal in Periodontitis

Adv Healthc Mater. 2025 Jan;14(1):e2401190. doi: 10.1002/adhm.202401190. Epub 2024 Oct 23.

Abstract

Periodontitis is a highly prevalent and common condition in people of all ages, however, existing drugs to treat periodontitis have difficulty penetrating complex biofilms. Here, we report a biofilm-penetrating probiotic hybrid strategy for the treatment of periodontitis. It consists of therapeutic probiotics of E. coli Nissle 1917, which can produce antimicrobial peptides and hydrogen, and is coated with D-amino acids that can penetrate biofilms. After the fusion of D-amino acids with the biofilm, EcN entered the plaque biofilm and produced antimicrobial peptides to kill porphyromonas gingivalis and eliminate periodontitis under the action of hydrogen. The efficacy of EcN@DA-D in biofilm penetration and treatment of periodontitis was demonstrated in a rat model of periodontitis. In addition, the clinical combination to construct a rat periodontitis model by using clinical tissue has a significant therapeutic effect. In conclusion, EcN@DA-D offers a promising topical treatment for periodontitis without developing detectable pathogen resistance and side effects.

Keywords: biofilm removal; engineering bacteria; nanosynthetic biology; periodontitis; time response activity.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Antimicrobial Peptides / chemistry
  • Antimicrobial Peptides / pharmacology
  • Biofilms* / drug effects
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Escherichia coli* / drug effects
  • Male
  • Periodontitis* / microbiology
  • Periodontitis* / therapy
  • Porphyromonas gingivalis* / drug effects
  • Probiotics / pharmacology
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Sterilization / methods

Substances

  • Antimicrobial Peptides