Quantification of bacterial adhesion to tissue in high-throughput kinetics

Nimrod Shteindel; Danielle Gutman; Gil Atzmon; Yoram Gerchman

doi:10.1093/biomethods/bpad014

Quantification of bacterial adhesion to tissue in high-throughput kinetics

Biol Methods Protoc. 2023 Jul 26;8(1):bpad014. doi: 10.1093/biomethods/bpad014. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Nimrod Shteindel¹, Danielle Gutman², Gil Atzmon², Yoram Gerchman^{1

3

4}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Evolutionary and Environmental Biology, Haifa University, Tivon, Israel.
² Department of Human Biology, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel.
³ Institute of Evolution, University of Haifa, Haifa 3498838, Israel.
⁴ Department of Biology, Oranim College, Kiryat Tivon 3600600, Israel.

Abstract

Bacterial adhesion to tissue is the starting point for many pathogenic processes and beneficial interactions. The dynamics and speed of adhesion (minutes) make high-resolution temporal kinetic data important, but this capability is absent from the current toolset. We present a high-throughput method with a second-to-minute kinetic resolution, testing the adhesion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 wild-type, flagella-, pili-, and quorum-sensing mutants to human embryonic kidney (HEK293) cells. Adhesion rates were in good correlation with HEK293 confluence, and the ways in which various bacterial mutations modified adhesion patterns are in agreement with the published literature. This simple assay can facilitate drug screening and treatment development as well as provide a better understanding of the interactions of pathogenic and probiotic bacteria with tissues, allowing the design of interventions and prevention treatments.

Keywords: Pseudomonas aeruginosa; adhesion of bacteria to tissue; high throughput; kinetics.