State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases and National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Sichuan University, No.14, Section 3, Renmin Road South, Chengdu, China.
Department of Cariology and Endodontics, West China Hospital of Stomatology, Sichuan University, No.14, Section 3, Renmin Road South, Chengdu, China.
J Mater Chem B. 2022 Dec 14;10(48):10150-10161. doi: 10.1039/d2tb01711c.
Enamel non-cavitated lesions (NCLs) are subsurface enamel porosity from carious demineralization. The developed enamel cannot repair itself once NCLs occurs. The regeneration of mineral crystals in a biomimetic environment is an effective way to repair enamel subsurface defects. Previously, an amelogenin-derived peptide named QP5 was proven to repair demineralized enamel. In this work, inspired by amelogenesis, a novel biomimetic hydrogel composite containing the QP5 peptide and bioactive glass (BG) was designed, in which QP5 could promote enamel remineralization by guiding the calcium and phosphorus ions provided by BG. Also, BG could adjust the mineralization micro-environment to alkalinity, simulating the pH regulation of ameloblasts during enamel maturity. The BQ hydrogel composite showed biosafety and possessed capacity for enamel binding, ion release and pH buffering. Enamel NCLs treated with the BQ hydrogel composite showed a higher reduction in lesion depth and mineral loss both and . Moreover, compared to the hydrogels containing only BG or QP5, groups treated with the BQ hydrogel composite attained more surface microhardness recovery and color recovery, exhibiting resistance to erosion and abrasion of the remineralization layer. We envision that the BQ hydrogel composite can provide a biomimetic micro-environment to favor enamel remineralization, thus reducing the lesion depth and increasing the mineral content as a promising biomimetic material for enamel NCLs.
牙釉质非龋性缺损（NCLs）是由龋病脱矿引起的牙釉质下孔隙。一旦发生 NCLs，发育中的牙釉质就无法自我修复。在仿生环境中再生矿化晶体是修复牙釉质下表面缺陷的有效方法。此前，一种名为 QP5 的釉原蛋白衍生肽已被证明可修复脱矿的牙釉质。在这项工作中，受牙发生的启发，设计了一种含有 QP5 肽和生物活性玻璃（BG）的新型仿生水凝胶复合材料，其中 QP5 可通过引导 BG 提供的钙和磷离子来促进脱矿牙釉质的再矿化。此外，BG 可以调节矿化微环境至碱性，模拟成釉细胞在牙釉质成熟过程中的 pH 调节。BQ 水凝胶复合材料表现出生物安全性，并具有与牙釉质结合、离子释放和 pH 缓冲的能力。经 BQ 水凝胶复合材料处理的牙釉质 NCLs 在降低缺损深度和减少矿物质损失方面均表现出更高的效果。此外，与仅含 BG 或 QP5 的水凝胶相比，用 BQ 水凝胶复合材料处理的组获得了更高的表面显微硬度恢复和颜色恢复，显示出对再矿化层的侵蚀和磨损的抵抗力。我们设想 BQ 水凝胶复合材料可以提供仿生微环境以促进牙釉质再矿化，从而降低缺损深度并增加矿物质含量，作为牙釉质 NCLs 的有前途的仿生材料。
