Growth rate and nutrient limitation as key drivers of extracellular quorum sensing signal molecule accumulation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2023)
Journal Article
Dubern, J., Halliday, N., Cámara, M., Winzer, K., Barrett, D. A., Hardie, K. R., & Williams, P. (2023). Growth rate and nutrient limitation as key drivers of extracellular quorum sensing signal molecule accumulation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Microbiology, 169(4), Article 001316. https://doi.org/10.1099/mic.0.001316

In Pseudomonas aeruginosa, quorum sensing (QS) depends on an interconnected regulatory hierarchy involving the Las, Rhl and Pqs systems, which are collectively responsible for the co-ordinated synthesis of a diverse repertoire of N-acylhomoserine lac... Read More about Growth rate and nutrient limitation as key drivers of extracellular quorum sensing signal molecule accumulation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Discovery of a polymer resistant to bacterial biofilm, swarming, and encrustation (2023)
Journal Article
Dubern, J. F., Hook, A. L., Carabelli, A. M., Chang, C. Y., Lewis-Lloyd, C. A., Luckett, J. C., …Williams, P. (2023). Discovery of a polymer resistant to bacterial biofilm, swarming, and encrustation. Science Advances, 9(4), Article eadd7474. https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.add7474

Innovative approaches to prevent catheter-associated urinary tract infections (CAUTIs) are urgently required. Here, we describe the discovery of an acrylate copolymer capable of resisting single- and multispecies bacterial biofilm formation, swarming... Read More about Discovery of a polymer resistant to bacterial biofilm, swarming, and encrustation.

Predictive Molecular Design and Structure–Property Validation of Novel Terpene-Based, Sustainably Sourced Bacterial Biofilm-Resistant Materials (2023)
Journal Article
Cuzzucoli Crucitti, V., Ilchev, A., Moore, J. C., Fowler, H. R., Dubern, J., Sanni, O., …Irvine, D. J. (2023). Predictive Molecular Design and Structure–Property Validation of Novel Terpene-Based, Sustainably Sourced Bacterial Biofilm-Resistant Materials. Biomacromolecules, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.2c00721

Presented in this work is the use of a molecular descriptor, termed the α parameter, to aid in the design of a series of novel, terpene-based, and sustainable polymers that were resistant to biofilm formation by the model bacterial pathogen Pseudomon... Read More about Predictive Molecular Design and Structure–Property Validation of Novel Terpene-Based, Sustainably Sourced Bacterial Biofilm-Resistant Materials.

ToxR is a c-di-GMP binding protein that modulates surface-associated behaviour in Pseudomonas aeruginosa (2022)
Journal Article
Camara, M., Dubern, J., Romero, M., Mai-Prochnow, A., Messina, M., Trampari, E., …Heeb, S. (2022). ToxR is a c-di-GMP binding protein that modulates surface-associated behaviour in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. npj Biofilms and Microbiomes, 8, Article 64. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41522-022-00325-9

Pseudomonas aeruginosa uses multiple protein regulators that work in tandem to control the production of a wide range of virulence factors and facilitate rapid adaptation to diverse environmental conditions. In this opportunistic pathogen, ToxR was k... Read More about ToxR is a c-di-GMP binding protein that modulates surface-associated behaviour in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

A Pseudomonas aeruginosa PQS quorum-sensing system inhibitor with anti-staphylococcal activity sensitizes polymicrobial biofilms to tobramycin (2022)
Journal Article
Murray, E. J., Dubern, J., Chan, W. C., Chhabra, S. R., & Williams, P. (2022). A Pseudomonas aeruginosa PQS quorum-sensing system inhibitor with anti-staphylococcal activity sensitizes polymicrobial biofilms to tobramycin. Cell Chemical Biology, 29(7), 1187-1199.e6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chembiol.2022.02.007

As single- and mixed-species biofilms, Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa cause difficult-to-eradicate chronic infections. In P. aeruginosa, pseudomonas quinolone (PQS)-dependent quorum sensing regulates virulence and biofilm developmen... Read More about A Pseudomonas aeruginosa PQS quorum-sensing system inhibitor with anti-staphylococcal activity sensitizes polymicrobial biofilms to tobramycin.

Ink-jet 3D printing as a strategy for developing bespoke non-eluting biofilm resistant medical devices (2021)
Journal Article
He, Y., Luckett, J., Begines, B., Dubern, J. F., Hook, A. L., Prina, E., …Wildman, R. D. (2022). Ink-jet 3D printing as a strategy for developing bespoke non-eluting biofilm resistant medical devices. Biomaterials, 281, Article 121350. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biomaterials.2021.121350

Chronic infection as a result of bacterial biofilm formation on implanted medical devices is a major global healthcare problem requiring new biocompatible, biofilm-resistant materials. Here we demonstrate how bespoke devices can be manufactured throu... Read More about Ink-jet 3D printing as a strategy for developing bespoke non-eluting biofilm resistant medical devices.

Exploiting Generative Design for 3D Printing of Bacterial Biofilm Resistant Composite Devices (2021)
Journal Article
He, Y., Abdi, M., Trindade, G. F., Begines, B., Dubern, J. F., Prina, E., …Wildman, R. D. (2021). Exploiting Generative Design for 3D Printing of Bacterial Biofilm Resistant Composite Devices. Advanced Science, 8(15), Article 2100249. https://doi.org/10.1002/advs.202100249

As the understanding of disease grows, so does the opportunity for personalization of therapies targeted to the needs of the individual. To bring about a step change in the personalization of medical devices it is shown that multi-material inkjet-bas... Read More about Exploiting Generative Design for 3D Printing of Bacterial Biofilm Resistant Composite Devices.

NirA Is an Alternative Nitrite Reductase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa with Potential as an Antivirulence Target (2021)
Journal Article
Fenn, S., Dubern, J., Cigana, C., De Simone, M., Lazenby, J., Juhas, M., …Cámara, M. (2021). NirA Is an Alternative Nitrite Reductase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa with Potential as an Antivirulence Target. mBio, 12(2), Article e00207-21. https://doi.org/10.1128/mbio.00207-21

The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces an arsenal of virulence factors causing a wide range of diseases in multiple hosts and is difficult to eradicate due to its intrinsic resistance to antibiotics. With the antibacterial pipelin... Read More about NirA Is an Alternative Nitrite Reductase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa with Potential as an Antivirulence Target.

AbaM Regulates Quorum Sensing, Biofilm Formation and Virulence in Acinetobacter baumannii (2021)
Journal Article
López-Martín, M., Dubern, J., Alexander, M. R., & Williams, P. (2021). AbaM Regulates Quorum Sensing, Biofilm Formation and Virulence in Acinetobacter baumannii. Journal of Bacteriology, 203(8), Article e00635-20. https://doi.org/10.1128/jb.00635-20

Acinetobacter baumannii possesses a single divergent luxR/luxI-type quorum sensing (QS) locus named abaR/abaI. This locus also contains a third gene located between abaR and abaI which we term abaM that codes for an uncharacterized member of the RsaM... Read More about AbaM Regulates Quorum Sensing, Biofilm Formation and Virulence in Acinetobacter baumannii.

Single-Cell Tracking on Polymer Microarrays Reveals the Impact of Surface Chemistry on Pseudomonas aeruginosa Twitching Speed and Biofilm Development (2020)
Journal Article
Carabelli, A. M., Isgró, M., Sanni, O., Figueredo, G. P., Winkler, D. A., Burroughs, L., …Alexander, M. R. (2020). Single-Cell Tracking on Polymer Microarrays Reveals the Impact of Surface Chemistry on Pseudomonas aeruginosa Twitching Speed and Biofilm Development. ACS Applied Bio Materials, 3(12), 8471–8480. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsabm.0c00849

© 2020 American Chemical Society. Bacterial biofilms exhibit up to 1000 times greater resistance to antibiotic or host immune clearance than planktonic cells. Pseudomonas aeruginosa produces retractable type IV pili (T4P) that facilitate twitching mo... Read More about Single-Cell Tracking on Polymer Microarrays Reveals the Impact of Surface Chemistry on Pseudomonas aeruginosa Twitching Speed and Biofilm Development.