Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: Flagellar-driven locomotion plays a critical role in the bacterial attachment and colonization of surfaces, contributing to the risks of contamination and infection. Extensive efforts to uncover the underlying principles governing bacterial motility near surfaces have relied on idealized assumptions about surrounding artificial surfaces. However, in the context of living systems, the role of cells from tissues and organs becomes increasingly critical, particularly in bacterial swimming and adhesion, yet it remains poorly understood. Here, we propose using biological surfaces composed of vascular endothelial cells to experimentally investigate bacterial motion and interaction behaviors. Our results reveal that bacterial trapping observed on inorganic surfaces is counteractively manifested with reduced radii of circular motion on cellular surfaces. Additionally, two distinct modes of bacterial adhesion were identified: tight and loose adhesion. Interestingly, the presence of living cells enhances bacterial surface enrichment, and imposed flow intensifies this accumulation via a bias-swimming effect. These results surprisingly indicate that physical effects remain the dominant factor regulating bacterial motility and accumulation at the single-cell-layer level in vitro, bridging the gap between simplified hydrodynamic mechanisms and complex biological surfaces with relevance to biofilm formation and bacterial contamination.
Authors: Xin-Xin Xu, Yangguang Tian, Yuhe Pu, Bingchen Che, Hao Luo, Yanan Liu, Yanan Liu, Yan-Jun Liu, Yan-Jun Liu, Guangyin Jing
Language: English
Topic: Micro and Nano Robotics
Subfield: Condensed Matter Physics
Field: Physics and Astronomy
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W4407822261