Formation of Non-Pathogenic E. Coli Biofilms on Silicone

硅胶上非致病性大肠杆菌生物膜的形成

• 批准号: 1508722
• 负责人: Chengzhi Cai
• 金额: $ 42万
• 依托单位: University of Houston
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Continuing Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-08-15 至 2019-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1508722&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Formation; Non; Pathogenic; E.; Coli

Non-Technical: This award by the Biomaterials program in the Division of Materials Research to University of Houston is to carry out research that will provide new insights to the process of biofilm formation, which will be invaluable for the development of strategies to prevent pathogen colonization and to promote the formation of benign or 'antimicrobial' biofilms. Colonization by pathogenic bacteria and the subsequent formation of biofilms on hosts, materials, and devices have a tremendous negative impact on human health and the environment. The proposed research is to develop a new strategy that uses benign bacteria to form a high coverage and stable biofilm on silicone surfaces to prevent biofilm formation by pathogenic bacteria. Graduate and undergraduate students involved in the project will be trained in many cutting-edge research skills and fields. Additionally, one undergraduate student per year will be recruited and mentored under the 'teachHouston' program at the campus to train as K-12 teachers in STEM topics. This program was established to address the critical shortage of K-12 science teachers. Students in the program not only do research in the researcher's laboratory, but also teach at local schools from their first year. The goal of the program is to provide high quality research experience to the future teachers so that they can better inspire young minds to scientific inquiry. Towards this end, this investigator will help these students to develop education modules related to their research projects for use in high school science classes.Technical: Biofilm formation by pathogenic microbes is involved in most bacterial diseases, especially biomedical device-associated infections. Pathogens enclosed in biofilms are protected from host immune defense and antimicrobial agents. Hence, they are difficult to eradicate, resulting in recurrent infections and facilitating the development of multidrug resistance. The overarching goal of the proposed research is to develop a new strategy to prevent biofilm formation on silicone surfaces used in urinary catheters and associated bacterial infection. This strategy uses benign bacteria to form a high coverage and stable biofilm on silicone surfaces as a live base to fight against pathogens. The objectives of the proposed research are to modify silicone surfaces with adhesion molecules to enable benign bacteria to form high coverage and stable biofilms, and to investigate the bacterial responses to the immobilized adhesion molecules during the biofilm formation process. The new understanding will guide the development of benign biofilms to fight against pathogens. Students involved in the project will be trained in this multidisciplinary area. To train future science teachers, one undergraduate student per year will be recruited from the 'teachHouston' program at the campus, and will be trained as teachers in education modules for use in high school chemistry and biology classes, in addition to their research activities in the researcher's laboratory.

非技术性：休斯敦大学材料研究部生物材料项目授予的这一奖项旨在开展研究，为生物膜形成过程提供新的见解，这对于防止病原体定植和促进良性或“抗菌”生物膜形成的策略的发展将是无价的。病原菌的定植和随后在宿主、材料和设备上形成的生物膜对人类健康和环境具有巨大的负面影响。本研究拟开发一种利用良性细菌在硅胶表面形成高覆盖度、稳定的生物膜的新策略，以防止致病菌形成生物膜。参与该项目的研究生和本科生将接受许多前沿研究技能和领域的培训。此外，每年将在校园的“teachHouston”项目下招募和指导一名本科生，培训他们成为STEM主题的K-12教师。这个项目的建立是为了解决K-12科学教师的严重短缺问题。这个项目的学生不仅在研究人员的实验室里做研究，而且从第一年开始就在当地的学校教书。该项目的目标是为未来的教师提供高质量的研究经验，使他们能够更好地激发年轻人的科学探究精神。为此，该研究员将帮助这些学生开发与他们的研究项目相关的教育模块，用于高中科学课程。技术：大多数细菌性疾病，特别是生物医学设备相关感染都涉及病原微生物形成的生物膜。包裹在生物膜中的病原体免受宿主免疫防御和抗菌剂的侵害。因此，它们难以根除，导致反复感染并促进多药耐药的发展。提出的研究的总体目标是开发一种新的策略，以防止生物膜形成的硅胶表面用于导尿管和相关的细菌感染。该策略利用良性细菌在硅胶表面形成高覆盖率和稳定的生物膜，作为对抗病原体的活基。本研究的目的是利用粘附分子修饰有机硅表面，使良性细菌形成高覆盖、稳定的生物膜，并研究在生物膜形成过程中细菌对固定化粘附分子的反应。新的认识将指导良性生物膜的发展，以对抗病原体。参与该项目的学生将在这一多学科领域接受培训。为了培养未来的科学教师，每年将从校园的“teachHouston”项目中招募一名本科生，除了在研究人员的实验室进行研究活动外，他们还将被培训为高中化学和生物课程的教育模块教师。