Substrate-specific binding of Staphylococcus adhesins to solid surfaces
EMSL Project ID
19602
Abstract
A nearly universal trait of bacteria is their ability to attach to solid surfaces. Attached cells often form biofilms that are implicated in a significant amount of human infections and have been shown to cause biofouling and corrosion of industrial processes. These biofilms are initiated through direct physical contact between biomolecules on a bacteriums surface and a solid surface. The sheer number of bacteria living on solid surfaces makes a compelling argument for the existence of surface sensing mechanisms. However, surface sensing abilities have not been widely studied in bacteria, because such abilities are not macroscopically observable for attached organisms with limited mobility. We will examine the ability of Staphylococcus aureus, a Gram-positive human pathogen, to recognize specific substrates by localizing specific adhesins towards the microbe-substrate interface. Atomic force microscopy will be used to examine the ability of living S. aureus cells to attach to three solid substrates (inert clean glass, uncleaned commercial glass, and fibronectin-coated glass) and to study the affinity of purified adhesin proteins towards these substrates. Second-harmonic generation measurements will be employed on suspensions of approximately 1 m-diameter glass spheres (clean glass, uncleaned, and fibronectin-coated glass or polystyrene spheres) in aqueous suspensions containing purified adhesin proteins to examine the ability of these proteins to attach to the surfaces of the different colloidal particles. The results will be examined to determine if the bacterial cells can recognize particular surfaces and localize substrate-specific biomolecules to the microbe-surface interface that would allow the organisms to attach to the solid supports.
Project Details
Project type
Large-Scale EMSL Research
Start Date
2006-08-29
End Date
2009-09-30
Status
Closed
Released Data Link
Team
Principal Investigator
Team Members
Related Publications
Ruchirej Yongsunthon, Brian H. Lower, Vance G. Fowler, Emily Alexander, and Steven K. Lower (2008). "A Bacterium's Sense of "Touch"," Materials Research Society Proceedings of Spring 2008 Symposium.
Ruchirej Yongsunthon, Francis Paul Vellano2, Brian H. Lower, Vance G. Fowler, Emily Alexander, and Steven K. Lower (2008). "Nanoscale Forces at the Heart of Staphylococcus Infections," Materials Research Society Proceedings of Spring 2008 Symposium.
Yongsunthon R, V Fowler, BH Lower, FP Vellano, E Alexander, L Reller, G Corey, and SK Lower. 2007. "Correlation between fundamental binding forces and clinical prognosis of Staphylococcus aureus infections of medical implants." Langmuir 23:2289-2292.