Quantification of bacterial adhesion to tissue in high-throughput kinetics

Area of Science:

• Microbiology
• Biotechnology
• Cell Biology

Background:

• Bacterial adhesion is crucial for both pathogenic and beneficial interactions with host tissues.
• Current methods lack the temporal resolution to capture the rapid dynamics of bacterial adhesion.
• Understanding adhesion kinetics is vital for developing targeted interventions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a high-throughput assay for measuring bacterial adhesion kinetics with second-to-minute resolution.
• To investigate the adhesion patterns of *Pseudomonas aeruginosa* wild-type and mutant strains to human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells.
• To provide a tool for drug screening and understanding host-bacterial interactions.

Main Methods:

• A novel high-throughput assay was developed to quantify bacterial adhesion.
• The assay measures adhesion kinetics at a resolution of seconds to minutes.
• The adhesion of *Pseudomonas aeruginosa* PAO1 wild-type, flagella-, pili-, and quorum-sensing mutants to HEK293 cells was tested.

Main Results:

• Adhesion rates correlated well with the confluence of HEK293 cells.
• Observed adhesion patterns for bacterial mutants were consistent with existing literature.
• The assay demonstrated high-throughput capability and kinetic resolution.

Conclusions:

• The developed assay provides crucial kinetic data on bacterial adhesion.
• This method can accelerate drug screening and the development of novel treatments.
• It enhances understanding of pathogenic and probiotic bacterial interactions with host tissues.