Predicting bacterial adhesion to host cells and implants via thermodynamic calculations and direct force measurements

COLL 190

Yatao Liu1, Joshua A. Strauss, josh1@wpi.edu1, Paola A. Pinzon-Arango, ppinzon@gmail.com2, and Terri A. Camesano, terric@wpi.edu1. (1) Department of Chemical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute road, Worcester, MA 01609, (2) Department of Biomedical Engineering, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, 100 Institute Rd., Worcester, MA 01609
Bacterial adhesion is the first step leading to biofilm formation and infection development. A powerful methodology combining experiments and modeling is described in which bacterial adhesion can be predicted for various systems. The Gibbs free energy change upon adhesion, calculated from contact angle measurements and calculations of interfacial free energies, predicts bacterial adhesion in the absence of ligand-receptor interactions. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) can be used to directly measure the adhesion forces between bacteria and substrata after appropriately functionalizing the AFM tip. We report on two model systems: the adhesion of Escherichia coli to human kidney epithelial cells, and the adhesion of Staphylococcus epidermidis to self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) that could be used as antimicrobial coatings on implants. The predictions based on this methodology correlate well with the empirically-derived retention of bacteria to kidney epithelial cells and SAMs, but also allow for more fundamental information to help explain the mechanistic nature of bacterial adhesion to different surfaces.
 

Fundamental Research in Colloid and Surface Chemistry
6:00 PM-8:00 PM, Monday, August 20, 2007 BCEC -- East Registration, Poster

Division of Colloid & Surface Chemistry

The 234th ACS National Meeting, Boston, MA, August 19-23, 2007