Quorum sensing and oral biofilm: an alternative for the prevention and treatment of oral diseases

Abstract

The present thesis investigates the potential of inhibiting bacterial cell-cell communication, quorum sensing (QS), to modulate oral biofilm formation. The thesis evaluates the effect of a quorum quenching (QQ) enzyme that degrades N-acylhomoserine lactones, the QS signals of gram-negative bacteria, on in vitro polymicrobial oral biofilms. The potential interactions between AHLs and a gram-positive representative, Enterococcus faecalis, were also investigated. The results presented here support the translation of QQ strategies to in vivo trials for the modulation of oral biofilms. In addition, a more intricate role of AHLs on oral biofilm formation and interactions with gram-positive bacteria is proposed.