Mechanical signatures of microbial biofilms in micropillar-embedded growth chambers
Biofilms are surface-attached communities of microorganisms embedded in an extracellular matrix and are essential for the cycling of organic matter in natural and engineered environments. They are also the leading cause of many infections, for example, those associated with chronic wounds and implan...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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Royal Society of Chemistry
2017
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106927 |
| _version_ | 1826216221023928320 |
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| author | Chew, S. C. Kundukad, B. Teh, W. K. Yang, L. Rice, S. A. Kjelleberg, S. Doyle, Patrick S |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering Chew, S. C. Kundukad, B. Teh, W. K. Yang, L. Rice, S. A. Kjelleberg, S. Doyle, Patrick S |
| author_sort | Chew, S. C. |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Biofilms are surface-attached communities of microorganisms embedded in an extracellular matrix and are essential for the cycling of organic matter in natural and engineered environments. They are also the leading cause of many infections, for example, those associated with chronic wounds and implanted medical devices. The extracellular matrix is a key biofilm component that determines its architecture and defines its physical properties. Herein, we used growth chambers embedded with micropillars to study the net mechanical forces (differential pressure) exerted during biofilm formation in situ. Pressure from the biofilm is transferred to the micropillars via the extracellular matrix, and reduction of major matrix components decreases the magnitude of micropillar deflections. The spatial arrangement of micropillar deflections caused by pressure differences in the different biofilm strains may potentially be used as mechanical signatures for biofilm characterization. Hence, we submit that micropillar-embedded growth chambers provide insights into the mechanical properties and dynamics of the biofilm and its matrix. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:44:13Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/106927 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T16:44:13Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Royal Society of Chemistry |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/1069272022-10-03T07:55:58Z Mechanical signatures of microbial biofilms in micropillar-embedded growth chambers Chew, S. C. Kundukad, B. Teh, W. K. Yang, L. Rice, S. A. Kjelleberg, S. Doyle, Patrick S Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Chemical Engineering Doyle, Patrick S Biofilms are surface-attached communities of microorganisms embedded in an extracellular matrix and are essential for the cycling of organic matter in natural and engineered environments. They are also the leading cause of many infections, for example, those associated with chronic wounds and implanted medical devices. The extracellular matrix is a key biofilm component that determines its architecture and defines its physical properties. Herein, we used growth chambers embedded with micropillars to study the net mechanical forces (differential pressure) exerted during biofilm formation in situ. Pressure from the biofilm is transferred to the micropillars via the extracellular matrix, and reduction of major matrix components decreases the magnitude of micropillar deflections. The spatial arrangement of micropillar deflections caused by pressure differences in the different biofilm strains may potentially be used as mechanical signatures for biofilm characterization. Hence, we submit that micropillar-embedded growth chambers provide insights into the mechanical properties and dynamics of the biofilm and its matrix. 2017-02-14T20:35:09Z 2017-02-14T20:35:09Z 2016-05 2015-11 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 1744-683X 1744-6848 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106927 Chew, S. C. et al. “Mechanical Signatures of Microbial Biofilms in Micropillar-Embedded Growth Chambers.” Soft Matter 12.23 (2016): 5224–5232. © 2016 Royal Society of Chemistry en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/c5sm02755a Soft Matter Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/ application/pdf Royal Society of Chemistry Royal Society of Chemistry |
| spellingShingle | Chew, S. C. Kundukad, B. Teh, W. K. Yang, L. Rice, S. A. Kjelleberg, S. Doyle, Patrick S Mechanical signatures of microbial biofilms in micropillar-embedded growth chambers |
| title | Mechanical signatures of microbial biofilms in micropillar-embedded growth chambers |
| title_full | Mechanical signatures of microbial biofilms in micropillar-embedded growth chambers |
| title_fullStr | Mechanical signatures of microbial biofilms in micropillar-embedded growth chambers |
| title_full_unstemmed | Mechanical signatures of microbial biofilms in micropillar-embedded growth chambers |
| title_short | Mechanical signatures of microbial biofilms in micropillar-embedded growth chambers |
| title_sort | mechanical signatures of microbial biofilms in micropillar embedded growth chambers |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/106927 |
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