Microfluidic Approaches to Bacterial Biofilm Formation

Molecules

Junghyun Kim²  Hee-Deung Park¹ 

[1]School of Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Korea

[2]School of Mechanical Engineering, Korea University, Seoul 136-713, Korea

关键词: microfluidics;    biofilms;    bacteria;    bacterial biofilm;   

DOI  :  10.3390/molecules17089818

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Bacterial biofilms—aggregations of bacterial cells and extracellular polymeric substrates (EPS)—are an important subject of research in the fields of biology and medical science. Under aquatic conditions, bacterial cells form biofilms as a mechanism for improving survival and dispersion. In this review, we discuss bacterial biofilm development as a structurally and dynamically complex biological system and propose microfluidic approaches for the study of bacterial biofilms. Biofilms develop through a series of steps as bacteria interact with their environment. Gene expression and environmental conditions, including surface properties, hydrodynamic conditions, quorum sensing signals, and the characteristics of the medium, can have positive or negative influences on bacterial biofilm formation. The influences of each factor and the combined effects of multiple factors may be addressed using microfluidic approaches, which provide a promising means for controlling the hydrodynamic conditions, establishing stable chemical gradients, performing measurement in a high-throughput manner, providing real-time monitoring, and providing in vivo-like in vitro culture devices. An increased understanding of biofilms derived from microfluidic approaches may be relevant to improving our understanding of the contributions of determinants to bacterial biofilm development.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2012 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.