Wettability regulated gram-negative bacterial adhesion on biomimetic hierarchical structures

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One of the critical issues in gram-negative bacterial adhesion is how wettability regulates adhesion as the surface wettability varies from superhydrophilic to superhydrophobic, and what is the relevant/contributing role of the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) outer layer of the gram-negative shell during this procedure. Herein, by avoiding the unexpected influence induced by the varied topographies, control over gram-negative bacteria adhesion by wettability is achieved on biomimetic hierarchical surfaces, which is mainly mediated by LPS layer. The study provides a methodology to have a good control over bacteria cell adhesion by properly designing wettable surface structures. This design concept is helpful for developing new generations of biomaterials in order to control a variety of diseases induced by gram-negative bacteria, which still continue to be very important and necessary in the fields of biomedicine.