Responses of Staphylococcus aureus bacterial cells to nanocrystalline nickel nanostructures

Zeinab Jahed; Peter Lin; Brandon B Seo; Mohit S Verma; Frank X Gu; Ting Y Tsui; Mohammad R K Mofrad

doi:10.1016/j.biomaterials.2014.01.080

Responses of Staphylococcus aureus bacterial cells to nanocrystalline nickel nanostructures

Biomaterials. 2014 May;35(14):4249-54. doi: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2014.01.080. Epub 2014 Feb 24.

Authors

Zeinab Jahed¹, Peter Lin², Brandon B Seo³, Mohit S Verma², Frank X Gu², Ting Y Tsui⁴, Mohammad R K Mofrad⁵

Affiliations

¹ Molecular Cell Biomechanics Laboratory, Departments of Bioengineering and Mechanical Engineering, University of California Berkeley, 208A Stanley Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-1762, USA; Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
³ Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
⁴ Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada; Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1, Canada.
⁵ Molecular Cell Biomechanics Laboratory, Departments of Bioengineering and Mechanical Engineering, University of California Berkeley, 208A Stanley Hall, Berkeley, CA 94720-1762, USA; Physical Biosciences Division, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Berkeley, CA 94720, USA. Electronic address: mofrad@berkeley.edu.

PMID: 24576805
DOI: 10.1016/j.biomaterials.2014.01.080

Abstract

A broad range of human diseases are associated with bacterial infections, often initiated by specific adhesion of a bacterium to the target environment. Despite the significant role of bacterial adhesion in human infectious diseases, details and mechanisms of bacterial adhesion have remained elusive. Herein, we study the physical interactions between Staphylococcus aureus, a type of micro-organism relevant to infections associated with medical implants, and nanocrystalline (nc) nickel nanostructures with various columnar features, including solid core, hollow, x-shaped and c-shaped pillars. Scanning electron microscopy results show the tendency of these bacterial cells to attach to the nickel nanostructures. Moreover, unique single bacterium attachment characteristics were observed on nickel nanostructures with dimensions comparable to the size of a single bacterium.

Keywords: Adhesion; Bacteria; Nano-pillar; Nanocrystalline; Nanostructure; Staphylococcus aureus.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Bacterial Adhesion / drug effects
Humans
Nanoparticles / chemistry*
Nanoparticles / ultrastructure
Nickel / pharmacology*
Staphylococcus aureus / cytology*
Staphylococcus aureus / drug effects*
Staphylococcus aureus / ultrastructure

Substances

Nickel