Studying the Influence of Surface Topography on Bacterial Adhesion using Spatially Organized Microtopographic Surface Patterns

TLDR

Selective bacterial adhesion depends on cell size and shape relative to the topography dimensions and surface hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity. The study examined bacterial adhesion on PDMS microtopographic patterns across three bacterial strains. The microtopographic patterns caused bacteria to preferentially settle in specific regions and reduced adhesion by 30–45% across Gram‑positive and Gram‑negative strains, indicating a general, topography‑driven strategy to inhibit biofilm formation.

Abstract

The influence of surface topography on bacterial adhesion has been investigated using a range of spatially organized microtopographic surface patterns generated on polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) and three unrelated bacterial strains. The results presented indicate that bacterial cells actively choose their position to settle, differentiating upper and lower areas in all the surface patterns evaluated. Such selective adhesion depends on the cells’ size and shape relative to the dimensions of the surface topographical features and surface hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity. Moreover, it was found that all the topographies investigated provoke a significant reduction in bacterial adhesion (30–45%) relative to the smooth control samples regardless of surface hydrophobicity/hydrophilicity. This remarkable finding constitutes a general phenomenon, occurring in both Gram-positive and Gram-negative cells with spherical or rod shape, dictated by only surface topography. Collectively, the results presented in this study demonstrate that spatially organized microtopographic surface patterns represent a promising approach to controlling/inhibiting bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation.