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Biofilms

Biofilms

Biofilms are complex communities of microorganisms encased in a self-produced extracellular polysaccharide matrix attached to surfaces. These microbial consortia can include single or multiple species, providing enhanced survival benefits by forming organized, multilayered structures.The formation of biofilms occurs through four key stages: attachment, colonization, development, and dispersal.During attachment, free-swimming planktonic cells adhere to a surface, often facilitated by...

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Updated: Oct 8, 2025

Anti-virulent Disruption of Pathogenic Biofilms using Engineered Quorum-quenching Lactonases

Anti-virulent Disruption of Pathogenic Biofilms using Engineered Quorum-quenching Lactonases

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Destructing biofilms by cationic dextran through phase transition.

Yurong Li¹, Shaocong Wang¹, Zhen Xing¹

¹State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Nanjing 210093, China.

Carbohydrate Polymers

|January 4, 2022

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Cationic polymers disrupt bacterial biofilms by altering their structure, enhancing antibiotic effectiveness, and promoting wound healing in preclinical models. This offers a novel strategy for treating chronic wound infections.

Keywords:

Antibiotic sensitivity Biofilm Cationic dextran Phase transition Wound healing

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Last Updated: Oct 8, 2025

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Area of Science:

Biomaterials Science
Microbiology
Wound Healing Research

Background:

Biofilm elimination from infected tissues is a major clinical challenge in chronic wound treatment.
Biofilms, composed of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), form stable gel structures via electrostatic interactions.
Current treatments struggle to effectively eradicate biofilms, necessitating novel therapeutic strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the potential of cationic polymers to disrupt bacterial biofilms.
To evaluate the efficacy of biodegradable cationic dextrans in treating biofilm-related infections.
To explore a novel, generic strategy for anti-bacterial therapies targeting biofilm structure.

Main Methods:

Utilized polyethyleneimine (PEI) as a model cationic polymer to validate the hypothesis.
Synthesized two biodegradable cationic dextrans for in vitro and in vivo assessments.
Evaluated the disruption of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) biofilms and enhanced antibiotic sensitivity.
Assessed the therapeutic effect in a mouse wound healing model with biofilms.

Main Results:

All tested cationic polymers effectively disrupted P. aeruginosa biofilms.
Cationic dextran treatment significantly increased bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics.
In vivo studies demonstrated that cationic dextrans controlled infection and accelerated wound healing.
The gel-to-sol phase transition induced by cationic polymers was confirmed as the mechanism of biofilm disruption.

Conclusions:

Cationic polymers can induce phase transition in biofilm EPS, leading to effective biofilm disruption.
Biodegradable cationic dextrans represent a promising therapeutic approach for biofilm-associated infections.
Targeting biofilm structural integrity with cationic polymers offers a versatile and effective anti-bacterial strategy.