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Nanoscale Structural and Mechanical Properties of Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae Biofilms
Journal article   Open access   Peer reviewed

Nanoscale Structural and Mechanical Properties of Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae Biofilms

Fernando Terán Arce, Ross Carlson, James Monds, Richard Veeh, Fen Z Hu, Philip S Stewart, Ratnesh Lal, Garth D Ehrlich and Recep Avci
Journal of bacteriology, v 191(8), pp 2512-2520
Apr 2009
PMID: 19218382
url
https://doi.org/10.1128/JB.01596-08View
Published, Version of Record (VoR) Open

Abstract

Microbial Cell Biology
Nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHI) bacteria are commensals in the human nasopharynx, as well as pathogens associated with a spectrum of acute and chronic infections. Two important factors that influence NTHI pathogenicity are their ability to adhere to human tissue and their ability to form biofilms. Extracellular polymeric substances (EPS) and bacterial appendages such as pili critically influence cell adhesion and intercellular cohesion during biofilm formation. Structural components in the outer cell membrane, such as lipopolysaccharides, also play a fundamental role in infection of the host organism. In spite of their importance, these pathogenic factors are not yet well characterized at the nanoscale. Here, atomic force microscopy (AFM) was used in aqueous environments to visualize structural details, including probable Hif-type pili, of live NTHI bacteria at the early stages of biofilm formation. Using single-molecule AFM-based spectroscopy, the molecular elasticities of lipooligosaccharides present on NTHI cell surfaces were analyzed and compared between two strains (PittEE and PittGG) with very different pathogenicity profiles. Furthermore, the stiffness of single cells of both strains was measured and subsequently their turgor pressure was estimated.

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Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
Web of Science research areas
Microbiology
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