Microfluidic approaches to bacterial biofilm formation

Junghyun Kim, Hee Deung Park, Seok Chung

    Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

    136 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    Bacterial biofilms - aggregations of bacterial cells and extracellular polymeric substrates (EPS) - are an important subject of research in the fields of biology and medical science. Under aquatic conditions, bacterial cells form biofilms as a mechanism for improving survival and dispersion. In this review, we discuss bacterial biofilm development as a structurally and dynamically complex biological system and propose microfluidic approaches for the study of bacterial biofilms. Biofilms develop through a series of steps as bacteria interact with their environment. Gene expression and environmental conditions, including surface properties, hydrodynamic conditions, quorum sensing signals, and the characteristics of the medium, can have positive or negative influences on bacterial biofilm formation. The influences of each factor and the combined effects of multiple factors may be addressed using microfluidic approaches, which provide a promising means for controlling the hydrodynamic conditions, establishing stable chemical gradients, performing measurement in a high-throughput manner, providing real-time monitoring, and providing in vivo-like in vitro culture devices. An increased understanding of biofilms derived from microfluidic approaches may be relevant to improving our understanding of the contributions of determinants to bacterial biofilm development.

    Original languageEnglish
    Pages (from-to)9818-9834
    Number of pages17
    JournalMolecules
    Volume17
    Issue number8
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2012 Aug

    Keywords

    • Bacteria
    • Bacterial biofilm
    • Biofilms
    • Microfluidics

    ASJC Scopus subject areas

    • Analytical Chemistry
    • Chemistry (miscellaneous)
    • Molecular Medicine
    • Pharmaceutical Science
    • Drug Discovery
    • Physical and Theoretical Chemistry
    • Organic Chemistry

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