title: High-content screening for biofilm assays.
abstract: The authors describe a novel high-throughput screening platform that provides rapid, reliable, quantitative assessment of biofilm formation and removal on engineered surfaces. Unlike traditional biofilm assays based on plate readers, this assay platform is based on high-content screening, which allows for multiplexing to simultaneously quantify the number of bacterial adhesions per unit area and the viability of adhered cells using fluorescent dye combinations. This platform is fully automated and has a throughput of more than 10,000 wells per day. The authors used this platform to examine the influence of different assay buffer systems on bacterial adhesion, viability, and removal on cross-linked polyvinyl alcohol coating films synthesized directly onto the bottoms of 384-well plates. The results indicated that water chemistry, bacteria cell type, and film chemistry combine to govern biofilm formation. In general, both reversible and irreversible bacterial adhesion increased with the extent of cross-linking in coating films, which correlates strongly with coating film cross-linking degree and hydrophobicity, which is closely related. The high-throughput platform offers a powerful tool for rapid evaluation of fouling-resistant coating films in addition to elucidation of fundamental mechanisms governing bacterial adhesion.
authors.affiliation: California NanoSystems Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, USA.
authors.forename: Fubing
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Peng
authors.forename: Eric M V
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Hoek
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Damoiseaux
mesh_terms: D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents / Q000494:pharmacology; D057166:High-Throughput Screening Assays / Q000379:methods*; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol / Q000494:pharmacology; D016958:Pseudomonas putida / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013499:Surface Properties / Q000187:drug effects; D014867:Water / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D003432:Cross-Linking Reagents; D014867:Water; D011142:Polyvinyl Alcohol