{"id":240018,"date":"2026-06-30T14:12:48","date_gmt":"2026-06-30T19:12:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/cryo-em-helps-identify-the-mechanisms-of-dental-plaque-formation"},"modified":"2026-06-30T14:12:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T19:12:48","slug":"cryo-em-helps-identify-the-mechanisms-of-dental-plaque-formation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/2026\/06\/cryo-em-helps-identify-the-mechanisms-of-dental-plaque-formation","title":{"rendered":"Cryo-EM helps identify the mechanisms of dental plaque formation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a class=\"aligncenter blog-photo\" href=\"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog.images\/cryo-em-helps-identify-the-mechanisms-of-dental-plaque-formation2.jpg\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Periodontal (gum) disease is one of the most prevalent diseases worldwide, caused by the bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis). In Japan alone, approximately 80% of adults 30 and older are affected or considered at risk.<\/p>\n<p>Published in <i>Communications Biology<\/i>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/articles\/s42003-026-10515-2\" target=\"_blank\">a joint study<\/a> by the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), Tottori University, Hiroshima University and Nagasaki University provides new insights into how this bacterium causes plaque formation.<\/p>\n<p>Using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), the researchers reveal the 3D structure of Mfa pili, an arm-like filament that enables the bacteria to stick to host tissues and other microbes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Periodontal (gum) disease is one of the most prevalent diseases worldwide, caused by the bacterium Porphyromonas gingivalis (P. gingivalis). In Japan alone, approximately 80% of adults 30 and older are affected or considered at risk. Published in Communications Biology, a joint study by the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST), Tottori University, Hiroshima University [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":662,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-240018","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biotech-medical"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240018","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/662"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=240018"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/240018\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=240018"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=240018"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeboat.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=240018"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}