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Applied and Environmental Microbiology, April 2006, p. 3005-3010, Vol. 72, No. 4
0099-2240/06/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/AEM.72.4.3005-3010.2006
Copyright © 2006, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.
Laboratory for Biologically Oriented Materials, Department of Materials, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, ETH Hönggerberg, CH-8093 Zürich, Switzerland,1 Departments of Bioengineering,2 Microbiology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 981953
Received 8 December 2005/ Accepted 12 February 2006
Soluble inhibitors find widespread applications as therapeutic drugs to reduce the ability of eukaryotic cells, bacteria, or viruses to adhere to surfaces and host tissues. Mechanical forces resulting from fluid flow are often present under in vivo conditions, and it is commonly presumed that fluid flow will further add to the inhibitive effect seen under static conditions. In striking contrast, we discover that when surface adhesion is mediated by catch bonds, whose bond life increases with increased applied force, shear stress may dramatically increase the ability of bacteria to withstand detachment by soluble competitive inhibitors. This shear stress-induced protection against inhibitor-mediated detachment is shown here for the fimbrial FimH-mannose-mediated surface adhesion of Escherichia coli. Shear stress-enhanced reduction of bacterial detachment has major physiological and therapeutic implications and needs to be considered when developing and screening drugs.
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