Research review paper Antimicrobial peptide-based treatment for endodontic infections — Biotechnological innovation in endodontics Stella Maris de Freitas Lima a,b , Gabriela Martins de Pádua b , Maurício Gonçalves da Costa Sousa a,b , Mirna de Souza Freire a,c , Octávio Luiz Franco a,c,d, ⁎, Taia Maria Berto Rezende a,b,e, ⁎ a Centro de Análises Proteômicas e Bioquímicas, Pós-graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília, SGAN 916N, Av. W5, Campus II, Modulo C, Brasília, DF, Brazil b Curso de Odontologia, Universidade Católica de Brasília, Campus I, QS 07 Lote 01 room S213 EPCT, Águas Claras, Taguatinga, DF, Brazil c Programa de Doutorado da Rede Centro-Oeste, Brasília, DF, Brazil d S-Inova, Pós-Graduação em Biotecnologia, Universidade Católica Dom Bosco, Campo Grande, MS, Brazil e Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências da Saúde, Universidade de Brasília, Faculdade de Ciências da Saúde (FS), Campus Universitário Darcy Ribeiro, Brasília, DF, Brazil abstract article info Article history: Received 8 March 2014 Received in revised form 7 October 2014 Accepted 31 October 2014 Available online xxxx Keywords: Endodontic microbiology Intracanal dressing Antimicrobial peptide Endodontic disinfection The presence/persistence of microorganisms in the pulp and periapical area corresponds to the maintenance of an exacerbated immune response that leads to the start of periradicular bone resorption and its perpetuation. In endodontic treatment, the available intracanal medications do not have all the desirable properties in the con- text of endodontic infection and apical periodontitis; they need to include not only strong antimicrobial perfor- mance but also an immunomodulatory and reparative activity, without host damage. In addition, there are various levels of resistance to root canal medications. Thus, antimicrobial agents that effectively eliminate resis- tant species in root canals could potentially improve endodontic treatment. In the emergence of new therapies, an increasing number of studies on antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been seen over the past few years. AMPs are defense biomolecules produced in response to infection, and they have a wide spectrum of action against many oral microorganisms. There are some studies that correlate peptides and oral infections, including oral pep- tides, neuropeptides, and bacterial, fish, bovine and synthetic peptides. So far, there are around 120 published studies correlating endodontic microbiota with AMPs but, according to our knowledge, there are no registered patents in the American patent database. There are a considerable number of AMPs that exhibit excellent antimi- crobial activity against endodontic microbiota at a small inhibitory concentration and modulate an exacerbated immune response, down-regulating bone resorption. All these reasons indicate the antimicrobial peptide-based endodontic treatment as an emerging and promising option. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Contents Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Infectious processes of the endodontic environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Pulpal and periapical infections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Endodontic strategies for pulp and periapical infection management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Biotechnology applications of antimicrobial peptides in endodontics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Antimicrobial peptides and dentistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Antimicrobial peptides and pulp and periapical microbial ecology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Future directions and concluding remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 0 Biotechnology Advances xxx (2014) xxx–xxx ⁎ Corresponding authors at: Pós graduação em Ciências Genômicas e Biotecnologia, SGAN 916N, Av. W5, Campus II, Modulo C, room C-218, Brasília, DF, Brazil. Tel.: +55 61 81349001; fax: +55 61 3347 4797. E-mail addresses: taiambr@gmail.com, taia@ucb.br (T.M.B. Rezende). JBA-06857; No of Pages 11 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2014.10.013 0734-9750/© 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Biotechnology Advances journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/biotechadv Please cite this article as: Lima SMF, et al, Antimicrobial peptide-based treatment for endodontic infections — Biotechnological innovation in end- odontics, Biotechnol Adv (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biotechadv.2014.10.013