title: Probiotic E. coli Nissle 1917 biofilms on silicone substrates for bacterial interference against pathogen colonization.
abstract: Bacterial interference is an alternative strategy to fight against device-associated bacterial infections. Pursuing this strategy, a non-pathogenic bacterial biofilm is used as a live, protective barrier to fence off pathogen colonization. In this work, biofilms formed by probiotic Escherichia coli strain Nissle 1917 (EcN) are investigated for their potential for long-term bacterial interference against infections associated with silicone-based urinary catheters and indwelling catheters used in the digestive system, such as feeding tubes and voice prostheses. We have shown that EcN can form stable biofilms on silicone substrates, particularly those modified with a biphenyl mannoside derivative. These biofilms greatly reduced the colonization by pathogenic Enterococcus faecalis in Lysogeny broth (LB) for 11days.
  
  
  
  Bacterial interference is an alternative strategy to fight against device-associated bacterial infections. Pursuing this strategy, we use non-pathogenic bacteria to form a biofilm that serves as a live, protective barrier against pathogen colonization. Herein, we report the first use of preformed probiotic E. coli Nissle 1917 biofilms on the mannoside-presenting silicone substrates to prevent pathogen colonization. The biofilms serve as a live, protective barrier to fence off the pathogens, whereas current antimicrobial/antifouling coatings are subjected to gradual coverage by the biomass from the rapidly growing pathogens in a high-nutrient environment. It should be noted that E. coli Nissle 1917 is commercially available and has been used in many clinical trials. We also demonstrated that this probiotic strain performed significantly better than the non-commercial, genetically modified E. coli strain that we previously reported.
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China; Department of Chemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, United States.
authors.forename: Quan
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, United States.
authors.forename: Zhiling
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, United States.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, United States.
authors.forename: Analette I
authors.initials: AI
authors.lastname: Lopez
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, United States.
authors.forename: Siheng
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, United States.
authors.forename: Amit
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, United States.
authors.forename: Fei
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yu
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, United States.
authors.forename: Haoqing
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, University of Houston, Houston, TX 77204, United States. Electronic address: cai@uh.edu.
authors.forename: Chengzhi
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510640, China. Electronic address: celjzh@scut.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Lijuan
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
mesh_terms: D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects; D018441:Biofilms / Q000187:drug effects*; D015169:Colony Count, Microbial; D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes / Q000737:chemistry; D013293:Enterococcus faecalis / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development*; D004926:Escherichia coli / Q000502:physiology*; D008362:Mannosides / Q000494:pharmacology; D019936:Probiotics / Q000378:metabolism*; D012828:Silicones / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D004129:Dimethylpolysiloxanes; D008362:Mannosides; D012828:Silicones
keywords: Bacterial interference; Biofilms; Catheter-associated urinary tract infection; E. coli Nissle 1917; Mannoside