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Quorum sensing in the dimorphic fungus Candida albicans is mediated by farnesol.

Using a specially designed device to shear plaque off the disks, the researchers removed more than twice as much plaque from surfaces treated with farnesol-carrying nanoparticles as compared with those treated with farnesol alone.

Applying farnesol alone had negligible impact, the researchers report in ACS Nano.

The inner core reacts to high acidity in the mouth, which loosens up the nanospheres and preferentially releases their contents—the antibacterial drug farnesol—in decay-prone regions where it’s needed most.