Elucidation of the mechanism of persister formed by oral bacteria and development of its removal method

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K24102
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0907:Oral science and related fields
• Research Institution: Kyushu Dental College
• Principal Investigator: YAMASAKI Ryota 九州歯科大学, 歯学部, 助教 (70841998)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-08-30 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 歯周病 / 齲蝕 / Persister / バイオフィルム / 活性酸素種

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The aim of this study was to prevent the onset and recurrence of periodontal disease from the perspective of "persister". persister is a bacterial phenotype that is adopted to survive under stressful conditions, and oral pathogenic bacteria are no exception to this phenotype, which is thought to be the cause of the persistence and recurrence of periodontal disease.
In this study, we first clarified the mechanism that awakens persister to its normal state in order to enhance the effect of drugs, and then established a technique to disinfect persister, thereby providing new knowledge in dental treatment.

Free Research Field

口腔微生物学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

歯周病は誰しもが起こり得る疾病である。歯周病患者には、治療が奏効せず再発を繰り返し、持続してしまう、いわゆる慢性歯周炎となる症例をしばしば経験する。その要因の1つとして、Persisterの存在に着目した。薬剤療法などに耐え得るPersisterは治療後も生存してしまい、これが再増殖することで病気を持続化させていると考える。本研究は歯周病の持続化や再発がPersisterによるものという仮説の元、歯周病原性細菌が形成するPersisterのメカニズムを解明し、その排除法を確立することで、新たな口腔内感染症の病態解明や治療・予防戦略の確立に繋がるものである。