Data Sheet 1_N-acyl-homoserine lactonase–nanosilver composite modulates the bacterial community of an in vitro enriched biofilm model of early childhood caries.pdf

It also significantly altered overall bacterial community composition, as demonstrated by principal coordinate analysis (PCoA) and paired permutational multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA), although the effect size was modest (R² = 0.0286, P = 0.002). At the genus level, the abundances of Actinomyces, Lactobacillus, and Moryella were markedly decreased, whereas Haemophilus and Granulicatella were enriched.

LEfSe analysis revealed Actinomyces and Lactobacillus as characteristic taxa enriched in the Control group, while Enterococcus and Granulicatella were significantly enriched following treatment. Functional prediction revealed that Ag-Est816 influenced pathways related to carbohydrate metabolism, amino acid biosynthesis, nucleotide metabolism, and nucleotide sugar biosynthesis. SEM imaging and biomass quantification confirmed that the Ag-Est816 composite disrupted biofilm architecture and significantly reduced total biomass.</p>Conclusion<p>The Ag-Est816 composite suppressed several low-abundance cariogenic genera while reducing overall community richness, altered microbial metabolic functions, and compromised biofilm structural integrity.

These findings indicated this non-invasive nanocomposite has potential as an adjunctive therapy for caries prevention in children.</p>