Advanced microscopy to understand cell-material interaction
Abstract:
The boundary between living systems and synthetic materials is of great scientific and technological relevance, however their interactions are poorly understood. This is in part due to the challenges associated with the real-time characterization of biointerfaces in biologically relevant environments. Our laboratory has developed a range of advanced fluorescence microscopy tools to study the interaction between living bacteria and materials. In a first example, I will discuss the real-time and single-cell response of E. coli to mechanical interactions with mechano-bactericidal nanomaterials, i.e. low-dimensional nanoparticles in suspension or high-aspect-ratio nanofabricated topographies that kill bacteria by purely physical interactions. Different microscopy and fluorescent labelling strategies are used to probe the effect of different force ranges on bacterial physiology. We find that a combination of lethal forces (>20 nN) and weak interactions (a few nN or less) are relevant to explain mechanically-induced bacterial death pathways.1 The second part of my talk will focus on the use of Flipper-TR®, a fluorescent probe that reports on membrane tension through variations in fluorescence lifetime. I will discuss the challenges and opportunities of the use of this probe in fluorescence lifetime imaging experiments to study interfacial phenomena in both Gram positive and negative bacteria.2 Overall, our results contribute to a quantitative understanding of the complex interaction between bacteria and materials.
[1] A. Del Valle, ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2020, 12, 31235; F. Viela, Small Sci. 2023, 3, 2300002; V. Vadillo-Rodríguez, Small 2025, 21, 2407990.
[2] M.C. González-García et al. PNAS 2025, 122, e2512977122.
If you wish to receive a certificate of attendance, please register and sign the attendance sheet on the day of the event.
Registration link: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeDk02-8GXQIpLHi8-b71BrAQBxIes-32G9HTNO_YcYNgjIzQ/viewform?usp=publish-editor