Large-scale studies make strides in mapping the topography of the mouth

Washington鈥擠ental scientists reported the online launch of the first comprehensive database of micro-organisms living in the mouth and the identification of 1,116 unique proteins in saliva in separate announcements March 25.

This genomic and proteomic data mining represents the “big science” oral research described to Congress by Dr. Lawrence Tabak, director of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research, which supports both projects. “These large-scale projects attempt to assemble a more detailed snapshot of the biological topography of a given tissue or disease process,” he said in a budget justification document supporting the administration’s request for oral research funds.

The NIDCR, one of the National Institutes of Health, is the nation’s leading source of funds for oral, dental and craniofacial research.

“With this more comprehensive view of the biological landscape, scientists can search more systematically for new diagnostic and therapeutic leads and move them more rapidly into clinical testing,” Dr. Tabak told Congress. “A good example is a consortium of scientists that recently completed a parts list of the proteins that are at work in the salivary glands. This first-ever catalog, like a Webster’s dictionary to a writer, provides an essential resource to design future saliva-based tests for human diseases.”

The protein map of human saliva was announced in a Web release by the Journal of Proteome Research and described by Reuters news service as important in developing saliva-based tests for cancer, heart disease, diabetes and other conditions.

The National Institutes of Health announced the Human Oral Microbiome Database of some 600 distinct microorganisms known to live in the mouth. The Web site is located at www.homd.org and overseen by scientists at The Forsyth Institute in Boston and King’s College London in England. “The HOMD fills a critical research need,” Dr. Tabak said. “The oral microbiome is extremely rich in data, and HOMD becomes the essential search engine for scientists to view and retrieve this information, generate novel hypotheses, make computational discoveries, and ultimately develop more biologically sound therapies to control oral diseases.”

Dr. Floyd Dewhirst, a project leader and scientist at The Forsyth Institute, said the HOMD introduces the first comprehensive nomenclature system to bring order to the naming of uncultured or previously unnamed oral microbes. Officially open to scientists, the HOMD is an ongoing project and a potential model for other microbiome studies, he said.

Already under way in “biology’s next revolution” is a NIDCR-supported project to compile a full catalog of the complete genomes of all oral microbes.

These studies will define the role of microbes in such common chronic disease as tooth decay and periodontal disease. The microbiome is a comprehensive listing of bacteria and other micro-organisms in dental plaque and the salivary proteome a complete listing of proteins in saliva, a NIDCR spokesman said.