Growing Mature Biofilms for Antimicrobial Screening, Host-pathogen Interactions, and Adhesion

Biofilm assays, such as compound screening and host-pathogen interaction assessment, are often conducted in microtiter plates. Despite their throughput and convenience, biofilms grown in well-plates do not fully mature, thereby reducing the quality and relevance of higher content biofilm data, including morphology, compound penetration, and analysis of mixed species biofilm interactions. Here, we present the BioFlux shear flow system, a microfluidic flow cell array that enables the growth of biofilms in precisely controlled conditions, including shear stress, temperature, and environmental gas. P. fluorescens, P. aeuruginosa, P. gingivalis (under anaerobic conditions), and E. coli were grown under shear flow conditions. An antibiotic panel against P. fluorescens was used to generate compound profiling data using biofilm viability and viability of planktonic cells data streams. Interactions between P. aeruginosa with airway epithelial cells were imaged in real-time. Finally, microbial adhesion to extracellular matrix proteins under flow was assayed. Using this high-throughput approach enabled full maturation and attachment of biofilms for physiologically relevant analysis.

Authors: Carolyn G. Conant, Mike Schwartz, Cristian Ionescu-Zanetti

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