Toxic cultures: e-cigarettes and the oral microbial exposome

Michelle Lee-Scott Beverly; Prem Prashant Chaudhary; Shareef Majid Dabdoub; Shinae Kim; Emmanouli Chatzakis; Kathryn Williamson; Sukirth Murthy Ganesan; Manoj Yadav; Grace Ratley; Brandon N. D’Souza; Ian A Myles; Purnima S. Kumar

doi:10.1038/s41522-025-00709-7

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Toxic cultures: e-cigarettes and the oral microbial exposome

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Toxic cultures: e-cigarettes and the oral microbial exposome

Michelle Lee-Scott Beverly, Prem Prashant Chaudhary, Shareef Majid Dabdoub, Shinae Kim, Emmanouli Chatzakis, Kathryn Williamson, Sukirth Murthy Ganesan, Manoj Yadav, Grace Ratley, Brandon N. D’Souza, …

NPJ biofilms and microbiomes, Vol.11(1), 66

04/26/2025

DOI: 10.1038/s41522-025-00709-7

PMCID: PMC12032151

PMID: 40280980

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Abstract

We tested the hypothesis that e-cigarette aerosol is metabolized by the indigenous oral microbiome, leading to structural and functional alterations. We combined untargeted metabolomics of in vitro commensal-rich and pathogen-rich biofilms with metatranscriptomics and fluorescent microscopy and verified the results in human samples. Spectral deconvolution of 4215 peaks identified 969 exposomal and endogenous metabolites that mapped to 23 metabolic pathways. The metabolites clustered by both aerosol characteristics and biofilm composition; and several were verified in human saliva of vapers. E-cigarette exposure upregulated xenobiotic degradation, capsule, peptidoglycan biosynthesis, organic carbon-compound metabolism, antimicrobial resistance, and secretion systems. E-cigarette exposure also altered biofilm architecture characterized by low surface-area to biovolume ratio, high biomass, and diffusion distance. In conclusion, our data suggest that bacterial metabolism of e-cigarette aerosol triggers a quorum-sensing-regulated stress response which mediates the formation of dense, exopolysaccharide-rich biofilms in health-compatible communities and antibiotic resistance and virulence amplification in disease-associated communities.

Life Sciences

Medical Microbiology

Microbial Ecology

Microbiology

631/326/2565/855

692/700/3032/3039/3049

Biomedical and Life Sciences

Microbial Genetics and Genomics

Details

Title: Subtitle: Toxic cultures: e-cigarettes and the oral microbial exposome
Creators: Michelle Lee-Scott Beverly - Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan
Prem Prashant Chaudhary - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Shareef Majid Dabdoub - Department of Periodontics, School of Dentistry, University of Iowa
Shinae Kim - Brillient Corporation
Emmanouli Chatzakis - The Ohio State University
Kathryn Williamson - The Ohio State University
Sukirth Murthy Ganesan - University of Iowa
Manoj Yadav - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Grace Ratley - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Brandon N. D’Souza - National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases
Ian A Myles
Purnima S. Kumar - Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of Michigan
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: NPJ biofilms and microbiomes, Vol.11(1), 66
DOI: 10.1038/s41522-025-00709-7
PMID: 40280980
PMCID: PMC12032151
NLM abbreviation: NPJ Biofilms Microbiomes
ISSN: 2055-5008
eISSN: 2055-5008
Publisher: Nature Publishing Group UK; BERLIN
Grant note: DE027857; DE032895 / U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (NIDCR) (https://doi.org/10.13039/100000072)
Language: English
Date published: 04/26/2025
Academic Unit: Dental Research; Periodontics
Record Identifier: 9984813174902771

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