ArticlePLoS biology2023
Pseudomonas aeruginosa type IV pili actively induce mucus contraction to form biofilms in tissue-engineered human airways.
Article in PLoS biology, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 29 papers.
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Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
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- Respiratory Organ-on-a-Chip for Disease Modeling: From Architecture to Functional Integration.Advanced healthcare materials · 2026Review
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- Exploring microorganism-host interactions: Emerging organoid models and analytical approaches.mLife · 2026Review
- 5-Fluorouracil modulates motility and biofilm-associated gene expression in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.PloS one · 2026Article
- Inhaled Targeted Nano-Drug Delivery Systems for COPD: Precision Solutions to Clinical Barriers.International journal of nanomedicine · 2026Review
- RNA modifications shape innate immunity and cellular adaptation during bacterial respiratory infection.Frontiers in immunology · 2026Review
- ZnO Nanocrystals InhibitInternational journal of nanomedicine · 2026Article
- An in vitro human vessel model to studyeLife · 2025Article
- Farnesol emulsion for elimination ofBiofilm · 2025Article
- Meningococci drive host membrane tubulation to recruit their signaling receptors.Nature communications · 2025Article
- AFM characterization of earlymSystems · 2025Article
- Pseudomonas aeruginosa: ecology, evolution, pathogenesis and antimicrobial susceptibility.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2025Review
- Decoding host-microbe interactions with engineered human organoids.The EMBO journal · 2025Article
- Disentangling the feedback loops driving spatial patterning in microbial communities.NPJ biofilms and microbiomes · 2025Review
- Multi-strain phage induced clearance of bacterial infections.PLoS computational biology · 2025Article
- Dual RNA sequencing of a co-culture model of Pseudomonas aeruginosa and human 2D upper airway organoids.Scientific reports · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
9 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa causes antibiotic-recalcitrant pneumonia by forming biofilms in the respiratory tract. Despite extensive in vitro experimentation, how P. aeruginosa forms biofilms at the airway mucosa is unresolved. To investigate the process of biofilm formation in realistic conditions, we developed AirGels: 3D, optically accessible tissue-engineered human lung models that emulate the airway mucosal environment. AirGels recapitulate important factors that mediate host-pathogen interactions including mucus secretion, flow and air-liquid interface (ALI), while accommodating high-resolution live microscopy. With AirGels, we investigated the contributions of mucus to P. aeruginosa biofilm biogenesis in in vivo-like conditions. We found that P. aeruginosa forms mucus-associated biofilms within hours by contracting luminal mucus early during colonization. Mucus contractions facilitate aggregation, thereby nucleating biofilms. We show that P. aeruginosa actively contracts mucus using retractile filaments called type IV pili. Our results therefore suggest that, while protecting epithelia, mucus constitutes a breeding ground for biofilms.
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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.