Insight, July 2019

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RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP

SUMMER 2019

Welcome to the July 2019 edition of Insight, a quarterly newsletter celebrating some of the many accomplishments of our community of researchers. Whether you are involved in clinical research, biomedical research, the scholarship of teaching and learning, improvement of the health care system, or professional partnerships that advance the field, we aim to spotlight insights from people at the Dugoni School.

DUGONI SCHOOL RESEARCHERS AWARDED GRANTS TO STUDY IMPACT OF SMOKING ON ORAL HEALTH Studying the health effects of smoking, vaping part of an emerging area of research for the school.

Research projects at the Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry recently received funding from the TobaccoRelated Disease Research Program (TRDRP), an agency of the state of California. The most recent funds will support research into whether cigarette smoke — and nicotine in particular — impair the regenerative abilities of human dental pulp stem cells, and make the dental pulp more vulnerable to damage from inflammation.

Dr. Nan (Tori) Xiao, assistant professor in the school’s Department of Biomedical Sciences, received a twoyear grant of approximately $500,000 from the TRDRP. The grant will cover salaries, research supplies and other related costs on the project “Impact of cigarette smoking on dental pulp mesenchymal stem cells mediated tissue regeneration.” Dr. Tamer Alpagot, professor of periodontics, and Dr. David Ojcius, chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences, are co-investigators on the project.

This is the second research grant from the TRDRP recently awarded to the Dugoni School. The first grant was awarded to support postdoctoral researcher Dr. Cássio Almeida da Silva, who received a $175,000 fellowship. His project will evaluate the effects of cigarette smoke on inflammasome activation in oral cells uninfected or infected with two common oral pathogens.

Both Dr. Xiao and Dr. Almeida da Silva will perform experiments on cells to study the molecular basis for tissue regeneration and inflammasome activation. They will also take advantage of collaborations with the clinic in our school to study expression of genes related to tissue regeneration and inflammation in tissue samples from smokers and non-smokers.

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RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP

“Research on the health effects of smoking and vaping is an emerging research focus of the Dugoni School,” said Dr. Ojcius. “Other faculty members have recently submitted applications to the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research and other foundations to support research on the health hazards of vaping, and more applications are planned.”

Cigarette consumption is a worldwide issue that has severe health impacts, including on the oral cavity.

Among other effects, smoking has been reported to increase the death of stem cells and suppress their regeneration. One goal of the research at the school is to help dentists make more accurate prognoses, provide better-personalized treatment plans, and significantly reduce the socioeconomic cost of dental treatment for cigarette-smoking patients.

The Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP) funds research that enhances understanding of tobacco use, prevention and cessation, the social, economic and policy-related aspects of tobacco use, and tobacco-related diseases in California. As one of three state agencies that work together towards the vision of a tobacco-free California, it aims to reduce the human and economic costs of tobacco use through innovative research and information dissemination. Learn more about the TRDRP and their prestigious awards at trdrp.org.

EXCELLENCE DAY The Dugoni School family recently gathered to showcase and celebrate accomplishments in research, clinical dentistry and community service at the yearly OKU-Sutro “Excellence Day” event held on campus on May 22. The 21st Annual Pacific Research Day and 18th Annual Clinical Excellence Day featured poster presentations, case presentations with patients, a keynote speaker, and reception.

Full news story › Presentation abstracts ›

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RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP

RESEARCH IN THE SPOTLIGHT Predicting adult facial type from mandibular landmark data at young ages What is it?

A study of a large set of longitudinal lateral cephalometric radiographs of the head and facial area, comprising 941 participants ages 6 to 21.

What problem does it aim to solve?

An important part of making treatment plans for patients is being able to predict how they will physically grow and change over time — particularly around the mouth and jaw area.

How does it work?

The radiograph images were measured to gather “landmark coordinates”. These coordinate measurements were then corrected and recorded in a database to be analyzed. Researchers categorized them into three primary facial types: hypodivergent, hyperdivergent and normodivergent. They also looked for differences by age group and between males and females.

What are the real-world implications?

Three landmarks turned out to be the most useful: menton, gonion and articulare. “Overall, the results from this analysis suggests that adult facial type can be determined reasonably well from mandibular shape at younger ages with increasing accuracy as individuals get older.” If craniofacial growth can be accurately predicted, this information will help clinicians make better treatment plans for their patients.

What are the next steps?

“Future studies include exploring ontogenetic trajectories of mandibular shape within each facial type for making growth predictions and evaluating changes in facial type within subjects over time.”

Source “Predicting adult facial type from mandibular landmark data at young ages”, Orthodontics & Craniofacial Research, Volume 22, Issue S1, Special Issue: Proceedings of the 2018 COAST Innovators’ Workshop on “Personalized and Precision Orthodontic Therapy”, May 2019, Pages 154-162

AUTHORS Heesoo Oh, Craniofacial Research Instrumentation Lab, Department of Orthodontics, University of the Pacific, Arthur A. Dugoni School of Dentistry Ryan Knigge, Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute, University of Missouri Anna Hardin, Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences, University of Missouri Richard Sherwood, Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute, University of Missouri Dana Duren, Department of Pathology and Anatomical Sciences and Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute, University of Missouri

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RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP

AUTHORS Manish Valiathan, Department of Orthodontics, School of Dental Medicine, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio Emily Leary, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery in the Missouri Orthopaedic Institute, University of Missouri Kieran McNulty, Evolutionary Anthropology Lab, Department of Anthropology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota View more “Research in the Spotlight” highlights ›

NOTEWORTHY PUBLICATIONS Congratulations to Dugoni School faculty, staff, student and resident researchers involved in the following research publications within the last three months as sourced by Scopus, the abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature. Visit the abstract links to learn more.

Thor, D., Xiao, N., Yu, R., Jivan, A., Cha, B. Induction of EGFP expression in Pichia pastoris during co-culture with human endothelial cell line (2019) Journal of Microbiological Methods, 161, pp. 28-34. Abstract › Chambers, D.W., Zitterkopf, J.G. How people make decisions about whether or not to seek orthodontic care: Upstream in the treatment chai (2019) American Journal of Orthodontics and Dentofacial Orthopedics, 155 (6), pp. 826-831.

Abstract › Huang, T.-T., Lan, Y.-W., Chen, C.-M., Ko, Y.-F., Ojcius, D.M., Martel, J., Young, J.D., Chong, K.-Y. Antrodia cinnamomea induces anti-tumor activity by inhibiting the STAT3 signaling pathway in lung cancer cells (2019) Scientific Reports, 9 (1), art. no. 5145. Abstract › Source: Scopus, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature. Last checked July 17, 2019. For ongoing updates, visit the publications page on the school website.

Contact Insight: Have a suggestion for the next issue of Insight? Contact Dr. David Ojcius, Assistant Dean for Research and Chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences, for editorial suggestions or to learn more about how to get involved in research at the Dugoni School. Email: dojcius@pacific.edu.