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Role of Silver Ions in Destabilization of Intermolecular Adhesion Forces Measured by Atomic Force Microscopy in Staphylococcus epidermidis Biofilms

Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, 31 Biopolis Way, The Nanos #04-01, Singapore 138669,¹ NUS Graduate School for Integrative Sciences and Engineering, 12 Medical Drive, Singapore 117598,² Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering, 10 Kent Ridge Crescent, Singapore 119260³

Received 7 April 2005/ Returned for modification 26 May 2005/ Accepted 19 August 2005

In this paper, we report on the potential use of atomic force microscopy (AFM) as a tool to measure the intermolecular forces in biofilm structures and to study the effect of silver ions on sessile Staphylococcus epidermidis cell viability and stability. We propose a strategy of destabilizing the biofilm matrix by reducing the intermolecular forces within the extracellular polymeric substances (EPSs) using a low concentration (50 ppb) of silver ions. Our AFM studies on the intermolecular forces within the EPSs of S. epidermidis RP62A and S.epidermidis 1457 biofilms suggest that the silver ions can destabilize the biofilm matrix by binding to electron donor groups of the biological molecules. This leads to reductions in the number of binding sites for hydrogen bonds and electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions and, hence, the destabilization of the biofilm structure.

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