Browse by author
Lookup NU author(s): Dr Jay Sangha, Dr Valentina Gogulancea, Professor Thomas CurtisORCiD, Professor Nicholas JakubovicsORCiD, Dr Dana OfiteruORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
Mathematical models can provide insights into complex interactions and dynamics within microbial communities to complement and extend experimental laboratory approaches. For dental biofilms, they can give a basis for evaluating biofilm growth or the transition from health to disease. We have developed mathematical models to simulate the transition toward a cariogenic microbial biofilm, modeled as the overgrowth of Streptococcus mutans within a five-species dental community. This work builds on experimental data from a continuous flow reactor with hydroxyapatite coupons for biofilm growth, in a chemically defined medium with varying concentrations of glucose and lactic acid. The biofilms formed on the coupons were simulated using individual-based models (IbMs), with bacterial growth modeled using experimentally measured kinetic parameters. The IbM assumes that the maximum theoretical growth yield for biomass is dependent on the local concentration of reactants and products, while the growth rates were described using traditional Monod equations. We have simulated all the conditions studied experimentally, considering different initial relative abundance of the five species, and also different initial clustering in the biofilm. The simulation results only reproduced the experimental dominance of S. mutans at high glucose concentration after we considered the species-specific effect of pH on growth rates. This highlights the significance of the aciduric property of S. mutans in the development of caries. Our study demonstrates the potential of combining in vitro and in silico studies to gain a new understanding of the factors that influence dental biofilm dynamics.
Author(s): Sangha JS, Gogulancea V, Curtis TP, Jakubovics NS, Barrett P, Metris A, Ofiteru ID
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: mSphere
Year: 2025
Volume: 10
Issue: 1
Pages: e0074324
Print publication date: 28/01/2025
Online publication date: 11/12/2024
Acceptance date: 18/11/2024
Date deposited: 06/02/2025
ISSN (electronic): 2379-5042
Publisher: American Society for Microbiology
URL: https://doi.org/10.1128/msphere.00743-24
DOI: 10.1128/msphere.00743-24
Data Access Statement: Data created during this research are available at Newcastle University Research Data Archive at https://doi.org/10.25405/data.ncl.c.7076210.v1
PubMed id: 39660862
Altmetrics provided by Altmetric
