ABSTRACT
B acterial adhesion to biomaterial surfaces is a necessary step in the pathogenesis of infections centered on implanted or intravascular bio medical devices and prostheses. The physicochemical mechanisms of microbial adhesion to these surfaces have, therefore, received much recent research attention in order to elucidate these mechanisms and provide new strategies for anti-adhesive materials or other measures of prevention. Microbial adhesion mechanisms have also been extensively investigated because of the wide relevance in industrial [1,2], environ mental [3,4], and dental [5-7] applications. These studies have con tributed to a large body of literature and an emerging picture of the physicochemical mechanisms of adhesion to biomaterials. However, because of the complexity of cell-biomaterial interactions and the chal lenge in designing appropriate quantitative experiments, quantitative predictive models based on measurable cell and material properties have been elusive. The majority of existing models of bacterial adhesion mech anisms have relied on theory developed for ideal colloidal particles on inert homogeneous surfaces. As detailed below, these models provide a useful conceptual framework for understanding the non-biological aspects of bacterial adhesion. They are generally less useful in interpret ing adhesion mechanisms on biomaterial surfaces, which typically involve complex macromolecular interactions not addressed by the models.
