ArticleNPJ biofilms and microbiomes2025
Dental biofilms contain DNase I-resistant Z-DNA and G-quadruplexes but alternative DNase overcomes this resistance.
Article in NPJ biofilms and microbiomes, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 9 papers.
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Who cites it
9 citing papers in PubMed.
- Imaging nucleic acids in biofilms.Essays in biochemistry · 2026Review
- Binding specificity of IgG antibodies to mycobacterial DNA in plasmas of patients with tuberculosis and healthy controls.ImmunoHorizons · 2026Article
- Enzymatic tools for the treatment of caries-associated biofilms: Investigating the enzymes of a putative polysaccharide utilization locus from Prevotella melaninogenica and their application against Streptococcus mutans biofilm.World journal of microbiology & biotechnology · 2026Article
- Detecting extracellular G4 DNA motifs in biofilms through energy transfer between DNA-binding dyes TOTO™-1 and SYTO™60.Nucleic acids research · 2026Article
- Dental caries beyond eradication: microbiome centered and equilibrium driven therapeutic strategies.Archives of microbiology · 2026Review
- Unravelling the noncanonical extracellular DNA structures in biofilm and NETosis.Nucleic acids research · 2026Review
- Hemin-binding DNA structures on the surface of bacteria promote extracellular electron transfer.Nucleic acids research · 2025Article
- Immune dysfunction during S. aureus biofilm-associated implant infections: opportunities for novel therapeutic strategies.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Review
- Mechanisms of fungal pathogenic DNA-activated STING pathway in biofilms and its implication in dental caries onset.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Extracellular DNA (eDNA) in bacterial biofilms can form non-canonical structures like Z-DNA and G-quadruplex (G4), which enhance biofilm resilience by providing protection against mammalian DNases. However, the conformation of eDNA in dental biofilms remains unexplored. Using fluorescence immunolabeling and confocal microscopy, we examined dental biofilms from healthy and caries-active subjects, revealing B-DNA, G4-, and Z-DNA structures surrounding clusters of bacteria, with some structures directly associated with the bacterial cell surface. We demonstrated that these non-canonical DNA structures were resistant to mammalian DNase I. Using a Streptococcus mutans biofilm model, we visualised fluorescently labelled eDNA during enzyme treatment and identified both an experimental nuclease and a DNase I-chloroquine combination capable of removing eDNA that was resistant to DNase I. These findings suggest that G4 and Z-DNA structures represent novel targets for improved enzyme formulations in controlling dental biofilms and potentially other biofilms containing these secondary DNA structures.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.