Establishing the Mechanoselective Adhesion of Microorganisms to Biomaterials

留置医疗设备，包括导尿管，是现代医疗保健中不可或缺的工具。然而，在美国，超过四分之一的医疗相关感染归因于中央静脉相关血流感染和导尿管相关尿路感染。虽然水凝胶涂层通常应用于导管，以提高患者的舒适度，降低蛋白质和微生物的非特异性吸附，但缺乏揭示微生物最初粘附在固体表面的原因的系统和基础研究，这可以为生物污垢耐材料的开发提供信息。该项目支持基础研究，研究聚合物凝胶的机械性能与亲水性如何影响微生物的初始附着。除了提高防污聚合物涂层的功能外，了解材料-生物界面可以设计广泛的水凝胶涂层生物医学设备（即导管，植入物，伤口敷料，隐形眼镜）。这个nsf生物材料项目的一个关键组成部分是它的目标是在材料科学和合成生物学的新兴界面上教育，提供研究经验，并指导多样化的劳动力。这项活动将为本科生和研究生带来许多新的研究经验，包括针对女性和代表性不足人群的参与努力，其中包括一个针对高中生的教育模块，名为“细菌：自然与工程”。预测生物膜对基质力学的反应是一个悬而未决的问题。该活动将通过将微生物附着与具有不同结构-性质关系的材料文库和附着细胞的高通量转录组分析相关联，建立大肠杆菌和金黄色葡萄球菌对聚合物涂层的天然反应。通过系统地从(i)亲水性聚（乙二醇）二甲丙烯酸酯，（ii）疏水性聚合物聚二甲基硅氧烷和（iii）可调共聚物凝胶合成聚合物凝胶，我们将确定生物膜形成细胞如何感知和响应凝胶的亲水性和硬度在生物材料应用的相关制度。值得注意的是，我们将通过应用合成生物学方法和大肠杆菌和金黄色葡萄球菌菌株的全基因组文库，阐明控制细菌粘附和增殖的生物膜抑制的遗传靶点，对细胞粘附在机械化学不同的凝胶材料上进行定量的基因型-表型定位。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Indwelling medical devices, including catheters, are indispensable tools in modern healthcare. However, over one-quarter of all healthcare-associated infections in the United States are attributed to central line-associated bloodstream infections and catheter-associated urinary tract infections. While hydrogel coatings are typically applied to catheters to improve patient comfort and lower the nonspecific adsorption of proteins and microorganisms, systematic and fundamental studies that reveal why microbes initially adhere to solid surfaces are lacking and could inform the development of biofouling resistant materials. This project supports fundamental research into how mechanical properties paired with the hydrophilicity of polymer gels impacts the initial attachment of microorganisms. In addition to improving the functionality of antifouling polymer coatings, understanding the materials-biology interface can enable the design of a broad range of hydrogel-coated biomedical devices (i.e., catheters, implants, wound dressings, contact lenses). A key component of this NSF-Biomaterials project is its aim to educate, provide research experiences, and mentor a diverse workforce at the emerging interface of materials science and synthetic biology. Numerous new research experiences for undergraduate and graduate students, including engagement efforts aimed at women and underrepresented populations, will result from this activity, including an educational module for high school students called "Bacteria: Natural versus Engineered".The ability to predict how biofilms respond to substrate mechanics is an open question. This activity will establish the native response of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus to polymer coatings by correlating microbial attachment to a library of materials with varied structure-property relationships and high-throughput transcriptome analysis of the attached cells. By systematically synthesizing polymer gels from (i) hydrophilic poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate, (ii) hydrophobic polymer polydimethylsiloxane, and (iii) tunable copolymer gels, we will identify how biofilm-forming cells sense and respond to the gels' hydrophilicity and stiffness in relevant regimes for biomaterial applications. Notably, we will elucidate genetic targets for biofilm inhibition that control bacterial adhesion and proliferation on our panel of gels by applying synthetic biology approaches and genome-wide libraries for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus strains to perform quantitative genotype-phenotype mapping for cellular adhesion to mechano-chemically diverse gel materials.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.