Research area::
Nanoscale characterization of early biofilm formation on oral substrates. Biofilm formation on natural and artificial oral surfaces continues to be one of the most important causes of disease in dentistry, and is a crucial factor in the development of dental caries, periodontal disease and denture stomatitis. Although a number of facilitators involved in the growth of biofilms are known (such as substrate roughness and chemistry, and microbial adhesin expression), crucial questions regarding the initial interaction between microbes and oral substrates at the nanoscale remain unanswered. Over the past couple of years, my research has focused on understanding the early stages of oral biofilm formation, by studying the interaction between microbes and dental biomaterials. Instead of solely employing traditional biofilm assessment techniques, I have developed a novel in vitro model of ‘live cell’ atomic force microscopy (AFM), which allows the study of surface colonization in real time at the single-cell level. Strains of interest I have been investigating include Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus sanguinis and Candida albicans. Although my main line of research concerns the microbe-substrate interaction, I also have an interest in understanding the interaction between bacteria and soft tissues, and bacteria-bacteria and bacteria-fungi interactions that play a key role in oral biofilm co-aggregation.
ISI publications during the last 5 years::
Aguayo S, Marshall H, Pratten J, Bradshaw D, Brown J.S., Porter S, Spratt D, and Bozec L (2017). Candida albicans adhesion onto acrylic surfaces at the nanoscale. Journal of Dental Research. May. DOI:10.1177/0022034517706354 [IF: 4.60]
Strange A, Aguayo S, Ahmed T, Mordan N, Stratton R, Porter S, Parekh S, Bozec L (2017). Quantitative Nanohistological Investigation of Scleroderma: An AFM-Based Approach to Disease Characterization. International Journal of Nanomedicine; 12: 411–420 [IF: 4.32]
Aguayo S, Strange A, Gadegaard N, Dalby MJ and Bozec L (2016). Influence of biomaterial nanotopography on the adhesive and elastic properties of Staphylococcus aureus cells. RSC Advances. 6(92), pp. 89347-89355 [IF: 3.29]
Aguayo S, Donos N, Spratt D and Bozec L (2016). Probing the nanoadhesion of Streptococcus sanguinis to titanium implant surfaces by Atomic Force Microscopy. International Journal of Nanomedicine. 2016 Apr 6;11:1443-50 [IF: 4.32]
Aguayo S and Bozec L (2016). Mechanics of bacterial cells and initial surface colonisation. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology. 2016;915:245-60 [IF: 1.95]
Aguayo S, Donos N, Spratt D and Bozec L (2015). Nanoadhesion of Staphylococcus aureus onto Titanium Implant Surfaces. Journal of Dental Research. 2015;94:1078-1084 [IF: 4.60]
Aguayo S, Donos N, Spratt D and Bozec L (2015). Single-bacterium nanomechanics in biomedicine: unravelling the dynamics of bacterial cells. Nanotechnology. Feb 13;26(6):062001 [IF: 3.57]
Wright B, Parmar N, Bozec L, Aguayo S and Day RM (2015). A simple and robust method for pre-wetting poly (lactic-co-glycolic) acid microspheres. J Biomater Appl. 2015 Aug;30(2):147-59 [IF: 1.99]
