Bacterial biofilms are complex mixed communities of bacteria which can form on almost any surface. They are a particular problem in the biomedical field as they frequently colonise medical devices such as indwelling catheters and prosthetics, and they are difficult to treat with conventional therapies as they are not sensitive to traditional treatments such as antibiotics, due to their complex architecture. In order to form biofilms, bacteria use Quorum Sensing (QS), which involves the use of molecular signals sent and received by the bacteria forming and maintaining the biofilm. Gram negative organisms, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa which frequently colonises chronic wounds and is also the main pathogen in the lungs of cystic fibrosis patients, use homoserine lactone (HSL) in the QS process. HSL is released by bacteria and binds to the LasR receptor both internally and in neighbouring bacteria, initiating further signalling and cascades of pathogenic factors involved, for example, with bacterial adhesion the surface and release of virulence factors.<br/>Hyperbranched polymers are ideally suited to functionalisation of the multiple end groups with covalently bound compounds, and this approach has previously been used for the delivery of bioactive molecules in wound dressings. This poster will describe the synthesis of hyperbranched polymers with HSL analogues covalently attached to them. The ability of these materials to disrupt the QS process will be discussed.

Hyperbranched polymers for the disruption of quorum sensing in pseudomonas aeruginosa

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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