Biomimetic supramolecular protein matrix restores structure and properties of human dental enamel
Open accessPublished version of a preprint
Abstract
Tooth enamel is characterised by an intricate hierarchical organization of apatite nanocrystals that bestows high stiffness, hardness, and fracture toughness. However, enamel does not possess the ability to regenerate, and achieving the artificial restoration of its microstructure and mechanical properties in clinical settings has proven challenging. To tackle this issue, we engineer a tuneable and resilient supramolecular matrix based on elastin-like recombinamers (ELRs) that imitates the structure and function of the enamel-developing matrix. When applied as a coating on the surface of teeth exhibiting different levels of erosion, the matrix is stable and can trigger epitaxial growth of apatite nanocrystals, recreating the microarchitecture of the different anatomical regions of enamel and restoring the mechanical properties. The study demonstrates the translational potential of our mineralising technology for treating loss of enamel in clinical settings such as the treatment of enamel erosion and dental hypersensitivity.
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Cites
Highly accurate protein structure prediction with AlphaFold
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“We demonstrated the use of this ELR matrix as versatile coatings capable of recreating the microarchitecture and restoring the key functional properties of the different anatomical regions of healthy enamel, including prismatic ( i.e ., parazone, diazone, inter-prismatic) and aprismaticregionsfromthesurfaceofteeth,irr…”
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- Authors
- Hasan, A., Chuvilin, A., Van Teijlingen, A., Rouco, H., Parmenter, C., Venturi, F., Fay, M., Greco, G., Pugno, N. M., Ruben, J., Edwards-Gayle, C. J. C., Myers, B., Dreveny, I., Cowieson, N., Winter, A., Gamea, S., Walboomers, X. F., Hussain, T., Rodríguez-Cabello, J. C., Rawson, F., Tuttle, T., Elsharkawy, S., Banerjee, A., Habelitz, S., & Mata, A.
- Affiliations
- University of Nottingham (GB)
- Ikerbasque (ES)
- University of Trento (IT)
- Queen Mary University of London (GB)
- Radboud University Medical Center (NL)
- Diamond Light Source (GB)
- King's College London (GB)
- University of Strathclyde (GB)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- ORCID
- Hasan, Abshar
- Chuvilin, Andrey
- Van Teijlingen, Alexander
- Rouco, Helena
- Parmenter, Christopher
- Venturi, Federico
- Fay, Michael
- Greco, Gabriele
- Pugno, Nicola M.
- Ruben, Jan
- Dreveny, Ingrid
- Cowieson, Nathan
- Gamea, Sara
- Walboomers, X. Frank
- Hussain, Tanvir
- Rodríguez-Cabello, José Carlos
- Rawson, Frankie
- Tuttle, Tell
- Elsharkawy, Sherif
- Banerjee, Avijit
- Habelitz, Stefan
- Mata, Alvaro
- Venue
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2025-11-04
- Volume
- 16
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 9434-9434
- ISSN
- 2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC12586552
- OpenAlex
- W4415849488
- Cited by
- 15
- References
- 3
- Citations by year
- 2026: 11 · 2025: 4
- FWCI
- 3.65
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Research Square (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Epsilon Open Archive (Sveriges lantbruksuniversitet biblioteket (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences)) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- Strathprints: The University of Strathclyde institutional repository (University of Strathclyde) (acceptedVersion, cc-by)
- Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham) (acceptedVersion)
- Repository@Nottingham (University of Nottingham) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Radboud Repository (Radboud University) (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Funders
- Diamond Light Source
- National Institute for Health and Care Research
- Research Councils UK (EP/W006413/1, EP/S021434/1, EP/N006615/1, EP/R042683/1)
- European Commission (MDM-2016-0618, CEX2020-001038-M)
- University of Nottingham (EP/S021434/1)
- AO Foundation (AOCMF‐21‐04S)
- Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación (CEX2020- 001038-M, PID2019, MDM‐2016‐0618, PID2019-110709RB-I00)
- Junta de Castilla y León (VA317P18)
- Centro en Red de Medicina Regenerativa y Terapia celular de Castilla y León
- Johnson Cancer Research Center, Kansas State University
- Medical Research Council (MR/R015651/1)
- Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (MR/R015651/1, EP/W006413/1, EP/S021434/1, EP/R042683/1, EP/N006615/1)
- Innovate UK (10094179)
- NIHR Nottingham Biomedical Research Centre
- NextGenerationEU (CEX2020-001038-M)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Bone Tissue Engineering Materials
- Health Sciences › Dentistry › Orthodontics › Dental Erosion and Treatment
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Rheumatology › Bone and Dental Protein Studies
- Keywords
- dental enamel, enamel erosion, dentin hypersensitivity, elastin-like recombinamers, apatite nanocrystals, epitaxial growth, enamel microstructure, enamel regeneration, enamel mechanical properties
- MeSH terms
- Apatites, Dental Enamel, Elastin, Humans, Tooth Erosion, Biomimetics, Biomimetic Materials, Nanoparticles
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