fibroblast cell lines were cultured and used for the construction of human
gingiva equivalents exactly as previously described, except that no antibiotics
were used in the culture media (Buskermolen et al. 2016 (link)). The commensal,
gingivitis, and cariogenic microbiomes, grown as described from a pool of 10
saliva donors, were diluted in Hank’s Balanced Salt Solution (HBSS) with calcium
and magnesium (Gibco) to 107, 108, and 109CFUs/mL. Each concentration (10 µL) was dripped onto the surface of the gingiva
equivalents, for a final exposure of 105, 106, or
107 CFUs/equivalent. Controls were exposed to 10 µL of HBSS.
Exposed gingiva equivalents were cultured by air exposure for 24 h at 37 °C,
7.5% CO2, and 95% humidity on 1.5 mL of DMEM/Ham’s F12 (3/1; Gibco),
supplemented with 1% Fetal Clone III (GE), 0.1μM insulin (Sigma-Aldrich), 1μM
isoproterenol (Sigma-Aldrich), 10μM carnitine (Sigma-Aldrich), and 10mM L-serine
(Sigma-Aldrich). Each experiment was performed with an intraexperiment
duplicate. Three experiments were performed, each with a different batch of
gingiva equivalents, which were exposed to different batches of the cultured
biofilms, grown independently from the same pool of 10 saliva donors, as
described earlier.