Biomimetic supramolecular protein matrix restores structure and properties of human dental enamel

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Hasan, Abshar and Chuvilin, Andrey and Van Teijlingen, Alexander and Rouco, Helena and Parmenter, Christopher and Venturi, Federico and Fay, Michael and Greco, Gabriele and Pugno, Nicola M. and Ruben, Jan and Edwards-Gayle, Charlotte J. C. and Myers, Benjamin and Dreveny, Ingrid and Cowieson, Nathan and Winter, Adam and Gamea, Sara and Walboomers, X. Frank and Hussain, Tanvir and Rodríguez-Cabello, José Carlos and Rawson, Frankie and Tuttle, Tell and Elsharkawy, Sherif and Banerjee, Avijit and Habelitz, Stefan and Mata, Alvaro (2025) Biomimetic supramolecular protein matrix restores structure and properties of human dental enamel. Nature Communications, 16. 9434. ISSN 2041-1723 (https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-64982-y)

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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.

ORCID iDs

Hasan, Abshar, Chuvilin, Andrey, Van Teijlingen, Alexander ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3739-8943, Rouco, Helena, Parmenter, Christopher, Venturi, Federico, Fay, Michael, Greco, Gabriele, Pugno, Nicola M., Ruben, Jan, Edwards-Gayle, Charlotte J. C., Myers, Benjamin, Dreveny, Ingrid, Cowieson, Nathan, Winter, Adam, Gamea, Sara, Walboomers, X. Frank, Hussain, Tanvir, Rodríguez-Cabello, José Carlos, Rawson, Frankie, Tuttle, Tell ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2300-8921, Elsharkawy, Sherif, Banerjee, Avijit, Habelitz, Stefan and Mata, Alvaro;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)