title: Cationic Conjugated Polymers-Induced Quorum Sensing of Bacteria Cells.
abstract: Bacteria quorum sensing (QS) has attracted significant interest for understanding cell-cell communication and regulating biological functions. In this work, we demonstrate that water-soluble cationic conjugated polymers (PFP-G2) can interact with bacteria to form aggregates through electrostatic interactions. With bacteria coated in the aggregate, PFP-G2 can induce the bacteria QS system and prolong the time duration of QS signal molecules (autoinducer-2 (AI-2)) production. The prolonged AI-2 can bind with specific protein and continuously regulate downstream gene expression. Consequently, the bacteria show a higher survival rate against antibiotics, resulting in decreased antimicrobial susceptibility. Also, AI-2 induced by PFP-G2 can stimulate 55.54 ± 12.03% more biofilm in E. coli. This method can be used to understand cell-cell communication and regulate biological functions, such as the production of signaling molecules, antibiotics, other microbial metabolites, and even virulence.
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science, Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, 100190, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Pengbo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science, Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, 100190, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Huan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Lu
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science, Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, 100190, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science, Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, 100190, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Jiangyan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science, Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, 100190, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Libing
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science, Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, 100190, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Fengting
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Lv
authors.affiliation: Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science, Key Laboratory of Organic Solids, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences , Beijing, 100190, P. R. China.
authors.forename: Shu
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000187:drug effects*; D002412:Cations; D008826:Microbial Sensitivity Tests; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D053038:Quorum Sensing; D055672:Static Electricity
chemical_list: D002412:Cations; D011108:Polymers