Autor(es):
França, Ângela Maria Oliveira Sousa ; Cerca, Nuno
Data: 2016
Identificador Persistente: http://hdl.handle.net/1822/43243
Origem: RepositóriUM - Universidade do Minho
Projeto/bolsa:
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/5876-PPCDTI/133123/PT
;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/COMPETE/133123/PT;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/5876/147337/PT;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/5876-PPCDTI/126270/PT
;
info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/FCT/COMPETE/126270/PT;
Assunto(s): Staphylococcus epidermidis; biofilms; human blood; plasma; virulence genes; gene expression; Science & Technology
Descrição
Staphylococcus epidermidis is frequently associated with the emergence of medical device- associated bloodstream infections, due to its ability to form biofilms on the surface of vascular catheters. Although these biofilms may be in continuous contact with human blood, how S. epidermidis biofilm cells interact with blood and its cellular and soluble components is poorly understood. Herein, we evaluated biofilm structure, biofilm cells culturability and viability, and the transcription of a panel of genes associated with S. epidermidis biofilms virulence, upon interaction with whole human blood or plasma. Our results showed that although whole human blood caused significant alterations in biofilm structure and in the number of culturable and viable cells, plasma was the main regulator of the transcription of genes with central role in biofilm formation, maturation and immune evasion. These findings highlight the urgent need to intensify studies aiming to evaluate the impact of host soluble factors on S. epidermidis biofilms fitness and persistence.
This work was supported by European Union funds (FEDER/COMPETE) and by national funds (FCT) under the project with reference FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-041246 (EXPL/BIAMIC/0101/2013). The authors thank the FCT Strategic Project of UID/BIO/04469/2013 unit and the project FCOMP-01-0124-FEDER-027462 (RECI/BBB-EBI/0179/2012). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript. AF acknowledges the financial support of an individual grant SFRH/BPD/99961/2014. NC is an Investigador FCT. The authors would like to thank Sandra Maia and Filomena Costa for human blood collection procedure. The authors declare no conflict of interest.
