Lecture: "What drives oral biofilm formation? Insights from mechanobiology at the microbial interface"
Biofilm formation begins at an interface where chemistry, mechanics, and biology converge. While biochemical signaling has long dominated our understanding of host-microbial interactions, the role of mechanical cues in this process is only beginning to emerge. In this talk, Professor Sebastian Aguayo will discuss how atomic force microscopy (AFM) can be used as a multiscale mechanobiology platform to investigate the physical interactions governing bacterial and fungal biofilm formation on tissues and biomaterials.
Using oral tissues as a model system, he will present recent work demonstrating how age-associated collagen glycation modifies tissue nanomechanics and bacterial adhesion, ultimately influencing biofilm development and interkingdom interactions in the context of dental caries. He will also illustrate how quantitative AFM nanomechanical mapping, single-cell force spectroscopy, and biofilm mechanics provide complementary insights into microbial behavior. Altogether, these studies highlight how integrating engineering, microbiology, and biomedicine through AFM-based approaches can reveal new mechanisms of host-microbial interaction and inspire innovative strategies to prevent and control biofilm-associated diseases.
Dr. Sebastian Aguayo is a dentist with a PhD in Biomaterials from University College London. During his time in the UK, he also served as a research associate in the Oral Health Division at GlaxoSmithKline. He is currently an associate professor at the Pontifical Catholic University of Chile, with a joint appointment between the School of Dentistry and the Institute for Biological and Medical Engineering, where he leads the Oral Mechanobiology Laboratory. He is also a member of the 2025-2027 Frontier Science Program of the Chilean Academy of Sciences. His research focuses on understanding the impact of aging and glycation on oral biofilm formation in the context of dental disease development. His interdisciplinary work integrates atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based mechanobiology approaches, including quantitative nanomechanical mapping of biological tissues and bacterial force spectroscopy, to investigate host-microbial interactions at the nanoscale.
Originally published at strategicframework.nd.edu.