Enhancement and suppression effects of a nanopatterned surface on bacterial adhesion

We present a quantitative thermodynamic model to elucidate the effects of a nanopatterned surface on bacterial adhesion. Based on the established model, we studied the equilibrium state of rodlike bacterial cells adhered to a nanopillar-patterned surface. Theoretical analyses showed the physical origin of bacterial adhesion on a nanopatterned surface is actually determined by the balance between adhesion energy and deformation energy of the cell membrane. We found that there are enhancement effects on bacterial adhesion to the patterned surface with large radius and small spacing of nanopillars, but suppression effects for nanopillars with a radius smaller than a critical value. In addition, according to our model, a phase diagram has been constructed which can clarify the interrelated effects of the radius and the spacing of nanopillars. The broad agreement with experimental observations implies that these studies would provide useful guidance to the design of nanopatterned surfaces for biomedical applications.