The scientific article entitled "A study on the dependence of bacteria adhesion on the polymer nanofibre diameter" was chosen by the magazine Environmental Science: Nano as the back cover image of the last volume released in March 2019.
The article, written by Fabrizio DeCesare ed Elena DiMattia of the University of Tuscia, from Eyal Zussman of the Israel Institute of Technology and from Antonella Macagnano of the CNR-IIA was, thanks to the excellent comments of the reviewers and the Editorial Board, among the few so-called “HOT” of the magazine, or the best presented.
Below is the abstract in English:
Topography nanostructures have been extensively studied to reduce bacterial adhesion in medical, food and industrial contexts. Fibers have also been used in energy, water and wastewater treatments, and medical applications. Nanosized fibers, however, have rarely been analyzed in interactions with bacteria, and they have always been found to inhibit bacterial adhesion and proliferation. We discussed here the size effect of polymer nanofibres on the attachment of bacteria. As a model system, a 3D self-standing electrospun nanofibrous poly (ε-caprolactone) -based scaffold was fabricated, and Burkholderia terricola bacteria cells were used for testing the interactions. The initial reversible adhesion and the subsequent stable irreversible docking of bacteria to nanofibers through various mechanisms, the orientation of bacteria along nanofibres, and the communication between cells were explored. Bacteria initially attached preferentially to nanofibers with ≈100 nm diameter, ie an order of magnitude smaller than that of the bacteria, resulting in a bacteria-to-nanofibre diameter ratio as large as ≈5. It is worth noting that interactions always occurred between bacteria and nanofibers coated with a conditioning film of organic substances of bacterial origin. The conditioning film, the outer membrane vesicles and the bacterial appendages were found to play a remarkable role in facilitating the subsequent adhesion of B. terricula cells to the electrospun poly (ε-caprolactone) nanofibres. They also permitted bacteria to reversibly and then stably attach to the nanofibrous material and connect and communicate with each other to form microcolonies embedded in exopolymeric substances, as an early step towards future biofilm formation. No inhibiting effect of the nanosized fibers on the adhesion, proliferation and vitality of the bacterial cells was observed.
For more information:
Fabrizio De Cesare: decesare @@@ unitus.it
Antonella Macagnano: antonella.macagnano @@@ iia.cnr.it