Novel Biofilm Assay for High Throughput Microbiology Research

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Fluxion Biosciences, a leading bioanalytical instrumentation company, proposes a novel, high throughput instrument and microfluidic well-plate for biofilm research and drug discovery. Microbial biofilms present a major clinical challenge and a serious risk to patients, but research in this area has been traditionally hindered by limited ability to study biofilms under physiologically relevant conditions. These accumulations of microorganisms, which form a slimy, polysacc haride matrix, are involved in nearly 80% of infections. As such, biofilm efficacy of antimicrobial compounds is a major focus of drug discovery and research efforts at pharmaceutical, biotech, and research institutions. Fluxion Biosciences is proposing a novel approach to studying biofilms under physiological flow conditions. The proposed instrument will offer researchers and drug discovery scientists a means to study the efficacy of anti- microbial compounds on physiological relevant biofilm formations. T he system will be able to provide kinetic and endpoint analyses using a convenient, easy to use microplate format. Further analyses will be conducted using conventional microplate readers, offering a significantly higher throughput than current approaches. The instrument proposed here comprises a bench top system and consumable, 96-well microplate capable of running up to 48 simultaneous biofilm experiments under continuous flow. The results will be assayed using standard microplate readers for improved thr oughput. This represents a considerable breakthrough over existing technologies. Conventional flow cells require long setup times and are typically run in very low throughput. Well plate assays can be run in higher throughput, but ca not offer flow based e nvironments. Biofilms can be 100-1000 times more resistant than their planktonic (free-floating) counterparts, which makes traditional well plate assays a limited surrogate for anti-biofilm efficacy. The approach proposed by Fluxion involves coupling the a dvantages of flow-cell chambers (high biological relevance) with the convenience and throughput of traditional well plates. The resultant product will deliver an automated platform for biofilm research and anti-microbial drug discovery. Along with convenie nce and throughput, this system will deliver powerful features specific to biofilm analysis and drug discovery. These include a microfluidic dilution system for performing multiplexed dose-response analyses on anti-microbial compounds. The proposed system will be a simple to use, automated bench top platform which will have a significant impact on the study of biofilms, the disease conditions where they are found, and the drug compounds which are needed to address them in the clinical setting. Public Health Significance: Biofilms account for over 80% of microbial infections in the human body, and are a major focus of research and drug discovery efforts. Despite their widespread clinical impact, the instrumentation and screening tools available to study biofi lms are severely limited in throughput and effectiveness. Fluxion Biosciences proposes a novel microfluidic instrument and consumable microplate to offer significant increases in throughput and physiological relevance for anti-microbial drug discovery and research.