A bacterium is seldom alone and when a large number of bacteria have gathered in one area they join together to form communities   so-called biofilms. Chemical signal molecules inform the individual bacteria that many of their conspecifics are in the vicinity. They attach themselves to surfaces, take hold and form a slimy matrix together with their neighbours. When they do this in a hospital on catheters or implants, they trigger severe, chronic inflammation, against which both the immune system and antibiotics are powerless.

 
At TWINCORE Prof. Dr. Susanne Häußler and the Pathophysiology of Bacterial Biofilms research group are working on strategies to develop new diagnostic methods and therapies to counteract biofilms. The focus: chronic pseudomonas infections. These bacteria are a clinical problem in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients in particular. One of the symptoms that patients with this congenital illness suffer from is that their lungs become coated with mucus, with pseudomonas forming biofilms in this stubborn lung secretion. A new procedure enables these pseudomonas to form biofilms in microtiter plates, with these investigated in high-throughput procedures, for example, to investigate the effects of antibiotics or other suitable agents. And this is not   as was previously the case   in an agitated liquid bacteria culture, but protected in their slimy biofilm matrix.

 
In addition to diagnostic utilisation in the clinic, the researchers of Susanne Häußler's team are also testing natural substances for their effectiveness against biofilms, thus taking the first steps on the path to an effective therapy against biofilm infections.