Patent EA-002244-B1 (EA)
Title: Compositions for controlling bacterial colonization
Inventor: BUDNY JOHN A
IPC: A61K47/48
Filed: 1998-10-13
Abstract: 1. A composition for controlling bacterial growth/colonization comprising: an enzyme,  an anchor molecule coupled to the enzyme to form an enzyme-anchor complex, the anchor being capable of attaching to a substrate proximal to a bacterial colony,  wherein the attachment to the substrate permits prolonged retention time of the enzyme-anchor complex where the bacterial colony is present. 2. A composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the enzyme is selected for its ability to degrade a colonization matrix. 3. A composition as claimed in claim 2 wherein the colonization matrix includes polysaccharides, and the enzyme is selected for its ability to degrade the polysaccharides. 4. A composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the anchor molecule is capable of attaching to any suitable substrate within an oral cavity. 5. A composition as claimed in claim 4 wherein the anchor molecule attaches to the tooth surface. 6. A composition as claimed in claim 4 wherein the anchor attaches to a pellicle on the tooth surface. 7. A composition as claimed in claim 4 wherein the anchor molecule attaches to a bacterial cell wall. 8. A composition as claimed in claim 4 wherein the anchor molecule is a ligand based molecule designed to mimic exterior cell surfaces of bacteria thereby creating competitive binding between bacteria and the enzyme-anchor complex with the surfaces in the oral cavity. 9. A composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the surface in the oral cavity is a plaque matrix. 10. A composition as claimed in claim 7 wherein the anchor molecule is a receptor based molecule designed to bind to bacterial attachment sites so that the enzyme-anchor complex can be adsorbed onto bacterial surfaces. 11. A composition as claimed in claim 3 wherein the polysaccharide is glucan. 12. A composition as claimed in claim 3 wherein the polysaccharide is a heterogenous and complex aggregate and mixture of many diverse oligo- and polysaccharides. 13. A composition as claimed in claim 3 wherein the enzyme selected is a hydrolase having hydrolytic activity. 14. A composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the enzyme is selected from the group consisting of: esterases, for cleaving ester bonds; glycolytic cleavage enzymes, for cleaving bonds that are found in oligo- and polysaccharides; ether bond cleavage enzymes; peptide bond cleavage enzymes where proteins are the substrate (reactant); carbon-nitrogen bond cleavage enzymes where the substrate (reactant) is not a protein; acid anhydride cleavage enzymes; carbon--carbon bond cleavage enzymes; halide bond cleavage enzymes; phosphorus-nitrogen bond cleavage enzymes; sulfurnitrogen bond cleavage enzymes; and carbon-phosphorus bond cleavage enzymes. 15. A composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the anchor molecule is selected from the group consisting of proteins, protein fragments and polypeptides, being from one or more of the following groups: a. naturally-occurring; b. naturally-occurring, but modified; c. synthetic polypeptides i. using naturally occurring amino acids ii. using synthetic, non-naturally occurring amino acids, D-amino acids, beta-substituted amino acids, alpha, alphadisubstituted; d. charge prevalence; and i. cationic (basic amino acids) ii. anionic (acidic amino acids) e. any combination of the above. 16. A composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the anchor molecules are saccharides and oligosaccharides, the saccharides and oligosaccharides being selected from the group consisting of: a. naturally occurring such as glucose, mannose, galactose, rhamnose, fucose, fructose, sucrose; b. naturally occurring amino sugars such as glucosamine, galactosamine, N-actylglucosamine, N-acetylgalactosamine, neuramenic acid, sialic acid; c. synthetic or non-naturally occurring saccharides and amino sugars, such as i. esters of sugars, sugar-organic acid esters; and ii. chemically combined sugars and proteins/polypeptides and synthetic glycoproteins. 17. A composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the anchor molecules are lycoproteins/proteoglycans, selected from the group consisting of: a. naturally occurring such as elastin, lectins, b. synthetic such as modified naturally occurring glycoproteins/proteoglycans. 18. A composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the anchor molecules are glycolipids selected from the group consisting of: a. naturally occurring, such as sphingomyelin, cerebroside, gangliosides; and b. synthetic or modified natural glycol; lipids through some chemical procedure such as esterification, amidation or similar chemical process. 19. A composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the anchor molecules are lipoprotein selected from the group consisting of chylomicron, Very Low Density Lipoproteins (VLDL), Low Density Lipoproteins (LDL), and High Density Lipoproteins (HDL). 20. A composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the anchor molecules are lipids selected from the group consisting of a. non-polar, natural or synthetic, such as triglycerides, cholesterol or other plant or animal sterols; and b. polar, natural or synthetic such as phospholipids (phosphatidyl serine). 21. A composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the anchor molecules are cell fragments, cell ghosts or segments or portions of exterior bacterial or animal cell walls or membranes that mimic live and viable bacterial or animal cells for the purpose of securing an enzyme to the surface within the oral cavity. 22. A composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the anchor molecules are non-biologic, polymeric materials selected from the group consisting of copolymers such as styrene-butadiene polymers. 23. A composition as claimed in claim 1 where the enzyme is .alpha.-Glucosidase. 24. A composition as claimed in claim 1 where the enzyme is Dextranase. 25. A composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the anchor molecule is a basic polypeptide. 26. A composition as claimed in claim 25 where in the basic polypeptide is Lys-Lys-Glu-Lys-Lys. 27. A composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the anchor molecule is an acidic polypeptide. 28. A composition as claimed in claim 27 wherein the acidic polypeptide is Glu-Glu-Lys-Glu-Glu. 29. A composition as claimed in claim 1 wherein the substrate comprises micelles. 30. A method of controlling bacterial colonization comprising the steps of: forming an anchor-enzyme complex comprised of an enzyme selected for its ability to degrade at least portion of a colonization matrix, and an anchor, a portion of which is coupled to the enzyme to produce the complex; and selecting the anchor based on the ability of said anchor to attach to a substrate, to thereby increase the retention time of the enzyme-anchor complex in close proximity to the matrix. 31. A method as claimed in claim 30 wherein bacterial colonization is controlled within the oral cavity. 32. A method as claimed in claim 31 wherein the colonization matrix is a plaque matrix, and wherein the plaque matrix comprises polysaccharides. 33. A method of forming a composition for controlling the proliferation of bacterial colonies, the method comprising: selecting an enzyme based on its ability to degrade the structural component where bacterial colonization occurs; selecting an anchor molecule based on its ability to couple to the selected enzyme such that the enzyme retains effective enzymatic activity to degrade the structural component, the anchor molecule further being selected for its ability to attach to a substrate proximal the bacterial colonization; and coupling the anchor and enzyme to produce an enzyme-anchor complex. 34. A method as claimed in claim 33 for controlling proliferation of bacterial colonies in the oral cavity. 35. A method of controlling colonization of bacterial plaque in the oral cavity whereby an enzyme specific for degrading plaque is coupled to an anchor selected from the group consisting of cell wall, cell wall fragments, cell fragments and cell ghosts.