Chapter 2 - Bacterial cell–biomaterials interactions

Abstract

Medical devices have been widely used in modern healthcare, but the device-centered microbial infections still remain a significant problem and result in increased levels of morbidity and mortality for patients. Bacterial adhesion is the critical step in the pathogenesis of biomaterial-associated infection. Understanding the mechanisms of bacterial interaction with biomaterial surface is important for controlling bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation and preventing biomaterial-associated microbial infection. This chapter gives a brief introduction of recent progresses on the studies of mechanisms of bacterial interactions with biomaterial surfaces and the factors that influence bacterial adhesion, then attempts to demonstrate the recent development of antibacterial biomaterial surfaces, especially on the biomimicking surfaces with nano/microstructures. Finally, the chapter briefly introduces signaling molecules that regulate the bacterial motility and adhesion genes to understand the mechanism of bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation from the aspect of intracellular signal transduction pathways.