ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2018
Entropically driven aggregation of bacteria by host polymers promotes antibiotic tolerance in
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 101 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
101 citing papers in PubMed, 182 citations in OpenAlex.
- Morphogenesis of bacterial colonies in liquid crystalline environments.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
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- Functional synergistic effects of graphene nanoribbons and surfactant stabilizers on inhibition of growth of biofilm-forming and biofilm non-forming bacteria.Environmental science and pollution research international · 2026Article
- Biophysical Constraints Dictate the Stability of Social Traits inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- The impact of inoculation methods on bacterial aggregation and antimicrobial susceptibility testing.Microbiology (Reading, England) · 2026Article
- A quorum-sensing molecule fromProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2026Article
- Phage-Mediated Iron Acquisition bybioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Spatial structure: shaping the ecology and evolution of microbial communities.FEMS microbiology reviews · 2026Review
- A microbiota-derived bile acid modulates biofilm formation by the probiotic strain Escherichia coli Nissle 1917.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Article
- Pre-adsorption of serum albumin on biomaterial surfaces modulates bacteria-surface interactions and alters bacterial physiological responses.Materials today. Bio · 2025Article
- Farnesol emulsion for elimination ofBiofilm · 2025Article
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa: ecology, evolution, pathogenesis and antimicrobial susceptibility.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2025Review
- Reversible Bacterial Depletion Aggregation and Restabilization by Water-Soluble Polymers.Langmuir : the ACS journal of surfaces and colloids · 2025Article
- Dissecting the physics of bacterial biofilms with agent-based simulations.Current opinion in solid state & materials science · 2025Article
- Survival strategies of imipenem-resistant P. aeruginosa: a comparative analysis of surface-bound biofilms and unbound aggregates.The Journal of antibiotics · 2025Article
- Flagellar motility and the mucus environment influence aggregation-mediated antibiotic tolerance ofmBio · 2025Article
- A Comprehensive Review of Molecular Mechanisms Leading to the Emergence of Multidrug Resistance in Bacteria.Indian journal of microbiology · 2025Review
- Release of extracellular DNA byiScience · 2025Article
- Echinacoside reduces intracellular c-di-GMP levels and potentiates tobramycin activity against Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm aggregates.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Article
41 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Bacteria causing chronic infections are generally observed living in cell aggregates suspended in polymer-rich host secretions, and bacterial phenotypes induced by aggregated growth may be key factors in chronic infection pathogenesis. Bacterial aggregation is commonly thought of as a consequence of biofilm formation; however the mechanisms producing aggregation in vivo remain unclear. Here we show that polymers that are abundant at chronic infection sites cause bacteria to aggregate by the depletion aggregation mechanism, which does not require biofilm formation functions. Depletion aggregation is mediated by entropic forces between uncharged or like-charged polymers and particles (e.g., bacteria). Our experiments also indicate that depletion aggregation of bacteria induces marked antibiotic tolerance that was dependent on the SOS response, a stress response activated by genotoxic stress. These findings raise the possibility that targeting conditions that promote depletion aggregation or mechanisms of depletion-mediated tolerance could lead to new therapeutic approaches to combat chronic bacterial infections.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.