Development of a prototype wound dressing technology which can detect and report colonization by pathogenic bacteria.

A new methodology for detecting the microbiological state of a wound dressing in terms of its colonization with pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus or Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been developed. Here we report how stabilized lipid vesicles containing self-quenched carboxyfluorescein dye are sensitive to lysis only by toxins/virulence factors from P. aeruginosa and S. aureus but not by a non-toxic Escherichia coli species. The development of the stabilized vesicles is discussed and their response to detergent (triton), bacterial toxin (α-hemolysin) and lipases (phospholipase A(2)). Finally, fabrics with stabilized vesicles attached via plasma deposited maleic anhydride coupling are shown visibly responding to S. aureus (MSSA 476) and P. aeruginosa (PAO1) but not E. coli DH5α in a prototype dressing.

Sensing of pathogenic bacteria based on their interaction with supported bilayer membranes studied by impedance spectroscopy and surface plasmon resonance.

Pathogenic bacteria secrete various virulence factors, including toxins, lipases and proteases that allow them to infect, breakdown and colonize host tissue. Among various modes of action that the pathogenic bacteria use to damage the host, pore formation (by pore forming toxins (PFTs)) and lipid hydrolysis (by phospholipases) modes are common in damaging the eukaryotic cell membrane. PFTs in their monomeric form are extracellular diffusible and able to form hydrophilic pores in cell membrane while phospholipases cleaves and hydrolyzes the ester bonds of most phospholipids in cell membrane. Both modes of action cause uncontrolled permeation of ions and molecules across cell membrane, leading to cell death by apoptosis or necrosis. In this work, the toxins secreted by two clinically important human pathogens, methicillin susceptible Staphylococcus aureus (MSSA476) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PAO1) were studied via their interaction with a planar tethered bilayer lipid membrane (pTBLM) using surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy (SPR) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). Detection and discrimination is based on lipid-loss (lipid hydrolysis by phospholipases) or non lipid-loss (pore formation by PFTs) from pTBLM upon interaction with supernatant of pathogenic bacteria. Using EIS and SPR, it is demonstrated that major toxins of S. auerus are PFTs while most of toxin associated with P. aeruginosa are more lipid damaging lipolytic enzymes. Such a format might have future utility as a simple assay for measuring the presence membrane lytic virulence factors in clinical samples.