Abstract
Different physico-chemical properties (eg adsorption kinetics, thickness, viscoelasticity, and mechanical stability) of adsorbed salivary pellicles depend on different factors, including the properties (eg charge, roughness, wettability, and surface chemistry) of the substratum. Whether these differences in the physico-chemical properties are a result of differences in the composition or in the organization of the pellicles is not known. In this work, the influence of substratum wettability on the composition of the pellicle was studied. For this purpose, pellicles eluted from substrata of different but well-characterized wettabilities were examined by means of sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). The results showed that substratum hydrophobicity did not have a major impact on pellicle composition. In all substrata, the major pellicle components were found to be cystatins, amylases and large glycoproteins, presumably mucins. In turn, interpretation of previously reported data based on the present results suggests that variations in substratum wettability mostly affect the organization of the pellicle components.
Acknowledgements
The Anandamahidol Foundation in collaboration with the Swedish Defence Materiel Administration (FMV), Malmö University, the Gustaf Th. Ohlsson Foundation and the Swedish Laryng Foundation are acknowledged for financial support. Dr Anette Carlén is acknowledged for the kind gift of PRP antibodies.
Notes
1. On silica surfaces, complete SDS-induced desorption takes place already at a concentration close to the critical micelle concentration (in water 0.25% w/v) (Hahn Berg et al. Citation2001).