Biofilm Resistant Liquid-like Solid Surfaces in Flow Situations

生物膜是嵌入在自身分泌的胞外聚合物(EPS)基质中的微生物细胞，这些基质附着在基质上。生物膜是一些最紧迫的全球挑战的核心，涉及从医学到工业再到环境的不同应用领域，并产生相当大的经济和社会影响。例如，据估计，仅在英国，医院中的导管相关性尿路感染(CAUTI)就造成了10-25亿GB的额外医疗费用(Ramstedt等人，Macromolec)。比奥西。2019年19日)，每年造成2000多人死亡(Feneley等人，J.Med。英语。泰克诺。39,2015)。为了对抗生物膜在表面的生长，使用固定化抗菌剂(即抗生素、银粒子)的化学方法可以引发抗菌素耐药性(AMR)，但往往是不可持续的。或者，也可以使用生物启发的纳米结构表面(如蝉翅、荷叶)，但它们的效果往往不会持久。最近一项创造光滑表面的创新受到了肉食性猪笼草的光滑表面策略的启发。这些光滑的表面包括用锁定在结构中的液体润滑剂浸渍多孔或有纹理的固体表面。这种液体表面通过抑制生物膜附着、附着和生长直接接触到固体表面，被证明是有希望的防污表面。然而，由于流动导致润滑剂的耗尽，这些新型液体表面在流动条件下的抗生物膜性能仍然是一个令人担忧的问题。在这里，我们提出了一种新型的抗生物被膜表面，通过创建永久结合的光滑的类液体固体表面。成功将改变我们对细菌生活在表面的理解，并为开发广泛应用(如生物医学装置和船体)的下一代抗菌膜表面开辟新的设计范例。为了使这个项目能够成功实施，它需要我们结合从材料化学、材料表面的物理和化学特征、纳米力学、微生物学、生物力学到计算力学的跨学科技能。项目目标与EPSRC Healthcare Technologies重大挑战很好地结合在一起，解决了控制所需物理干预的数量、优化治疗以及转变社区健康和护理的主题。同时，我们将为促进交叉研究能力(如先进材料、未来制造技术和医疗器械的可持续设计)做出贡献，这些能力对于应对这些重大挑战至关重要。特别是，这项研究将使用纳米机械测试来确定细菌附着和生物膜表征的微流体技术，这使我们能够通过制定和验证细菌附着和生物膜力学的复杂数值模型，在计算工程中创建新的方法。

Biofilms are microbial cells embedded within a self-secreted extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) matrix which adhere to substrates. Biofilms are central to some of the most urgent global challenges across diverse fields of application, from medicine to industry to the environment and exert considerable economic and social impact. For example, catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTI) in hospitals has been estimated to cause additional health-care costs of £1-2.5 billion in the United Kingdom alone (Ramstedt et al, Macromolec. Biosci. 19, 2019) and to cause over 2000 deaths per year (Feneley et al, J. Med. Eng. Technol. 39, 2015). To combat biofilm growth on surfaces, chemical-based approaches using immobilization of antimicrobial agents (i.e. antibiotics, silver particles) can trigger antimicrobial resistance (AMR), but are often not sustainable. Alternatively, bio-inspired nanostructured surfaces (e.g. cicada wing, lotus leaf) can be used, but their effects often may not last. A recent innovation in creating slippery surfaces has been inspired by the slippery surface strategy of the carnivorous Nepenthes pitcher plant. These slippery surfaces involve the impregnation of a porous or textured solid surface with a liquid lubricant locked-in to the structure. Such liquid surfaces have been shown to have promise as antifouling surfaces by inhibiting the direct access to the solid surface for biofilm attachment, adhesion and growth. However, the antibiofilm performance of these new liquid surfaces under flow conditions remains a concern due to flow-induced depletion of lubricant. Here we propose a novel anti-biofilm surface by creating permanently bound slippery liquid-like solid surfaces. Success would transform our understanding about bacteria living on surfaces and open-up new design paradigms for the development of next generation antibiofilm surfaces for a wide range of applications (e.g. biomedical devices and ship hulls). To enable the successful delivery of this project, it requires us to combine cross-disciplinary skills ranging from materials chemistry, physical and chemical characterisations of materials surfaces, nanomechanics, microbiology, biomechanics, to computational mechanics. The project objectives well align with EPSRC Healthcare Technologies Grand Challenges, addressing the topics of controlling the amount of physical intervention required, optimizing treatment, and transforming community health and care. In parallel, we shall contribute to the advancement of Cross-Cutting Research Capabilities (e.g. advanced materials, future manufacturing technologies and sustainable design of medical devices) that are essential for delivering these Grand Challenges. In particular, this research will employ nanomechanical tests to determine bacteria adhesion and microfluidics techniques for biofilm characterisation, which enables us to create novel approaches in computational engineering through the formulation and validation of sophisticated numerical models of bacteria attachment and biofilm mechanics.