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Shear force enhances adhesion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by counteracting pilus-driven surface departure

Jessica-Jae S. Palalay, Ahmet N. Simsek, View ORCID ProfileBenedikt Sabass, Joseph E. Sanfilippo
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.05.08.539440
Jessica-Jae S. Palalay
1Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA, 61801
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Ahmet N. Simsek
2Department of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Faculty of Physics, Institute for Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany, 80752
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Benedikt Sabass
2Department of Veterinary Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and Faculty of Physics, Institute for Infectious Diseases and Zoonoses, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany, 80752
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Joseph E. Sanfilippo
1Department of Biochemistry, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL, USA, 61801
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  • For correspondence: josephes@illinois.edu
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Abstract

Fluid flow is thought to prevent bacterial adhesion, but some bacteria use adhesins with catch bond properties to enhance adhesion under high shear forces. However, many studies on bacterial adhesion either neglect the influence of shear force or use shear forces that are not typically found in natural systems. In this study, we use microfluidics and single-cell imaging to examine how the human pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa interacts with surfaces when exposed to shear forces typically found in the human body (0.1 pN to 10 pN). Through cell tracking, we demonstrate that the angle between the cell and the surface predicts if a cell will depart the surface. We discover that at lower shear forces, type IV pilus retraction tilts cells away from the surface, promoting surface departure. Conversely, we show that higher shear forces counterintuitively enhance adhesion by counteracting type IV pilus retraction-dependent cell tilting. Thus, our results reveal that P. aeruginosa exhibits behavior reminiscent of a catch bond, without having a specific adhesin that is enhanced by force. Instead, P. aeruginosa couples type IV pilus dynamics and cell geometry to tune adhesion to its mechanical environment, which likely provides a benefit in dynamic host environments.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
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Posted May 08, 2023.
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Shear force enhances adhesion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by counteracting pilus-driven surface departure
Jessica-Jae S. Palalay, Ahmet N. Simsek, Benedikt Sabass, Joseph E. Sanfilippo
bioRxiv 2023.05.08.539440; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.05.08.539440
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Shear force enhances adhesion of Pseudomonas aeruginosa by counteracting pilus-driven surface departure
Jessica-Jae S. Palalay, Ahmet N. Simsek, Benedikt Sabass, Joseph E. Sanfilippo
bioRxiv 2023.05.08.539440; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.05.08.539440

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