Mechanisms of Extracellular Matrix-Mediated Electrochemical Signaling
Abstract
While bacteria are single-celled organisms, in nature they exist within multicellular biofilms that can exhibit sophisticated emergent behaviors through cell-to-cell coordination. As high-throughput DNA sequencing continues to reveal widespread microbial diversity in the environment and the human microbiome, understanding and predicting their emergent behaviors is the current frontier of the field. To better understand these emergent behaviors, we have recently developed a microfluidic-based method for gathering quantitative single-cell level measurements from biofilms. In particular, we have discovered ion channel-mediated electrochemical signaling that involves an active cell-to-cell relay of positively charged extracellular potassium ions. Here, we propose to determine how this potassium-based signaling process is directed by structural features of the biofilm that may interact with electrochemical species like potassium. Specifically, we are focusing on the extracellular matrix, a heterogeneous scaffold comprised of multiple negatively-charged components including polysaccharides, proteins, and extracellular DNA. Based on its opposite electrical charge, we hypothesize that the matrix can direct the diffusion of positively charged potassium ions, thereby allowing matrix patterning to modulate the speed of electrochemical signaling and its localization to particular subsets of cells. By analogy to how a circuit board guides electronic signals, matrix patterning could guide electrochemical signals to distinct regions of the biofilm. Such a phenomenon would represent a previously undescribed form of emergent control over cell-to-cell signaling in bacterial biofilms.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Mar 21, 2019
- Source ID
- W911NF1910136
Entities
People
- Arthur Prindle
Organizations
- Army Contracting Command
- Northwestern University
- United States Army