Pathogenesis of oral microbes triggered by the cyclic deformation of biomaterials - PROJECT SUMMARY Oral pathogenic biofilms are major drivers of major oral infectious diseases such as dental caries and denture stomatitis. Currently, the annual cost of treatment of oral biofilm-related infectious diseases exceeds $81 billion only in the US. Strategies to control biofilm formation on dental biomaterials are needed. Biofilm formation and adhesion are complex processes controlled by the interplay between physicochemical and biological processes including microbial strain, environmental conditions, and biomaterial surface. Specifically, biomaterial-biofilm interactions are controlled by different biomaterial surface properties including wettability, charge density, stiffness, roughness, topography, and chemistry. Biomaterials in the oral cavity are subjected to cyclic loading from masticatory and biomechanical movements. These repetitive forces can have an effect in the biomaterial-biofilm interactions. In fact, our recent publications and preliminary results, we showed for the first time, that the cyclic strain of the biomaterial surfaces is a parameter influencing the virulence and dysbiosis of oral microbes (Candida albicans and multispecies biofilms), which can lead to the progression of infection and disease such as denture stomatitis. The overarching goal of this proposal is to mechanistically study the effect of biomaterials’ cyclic strain on the pathogenesis of oral microbes. In this study, we will focus on the pathogenesis a fungal strain (Candida albicans) and denture-microbiota. Aim 1 will study this effect using common materials used in dentures. Aim 2 will explore the phenomena with hard oral mucosa and Aim 3 with an animal model. This project will help understand how the action of chewing is fueling the progression of major oral infections such as denture stomatitis, which in turn could lead to the development of methods for the prevention of pathogenic biofilm formation over implanted medical devices.
