Electromicrobiology Group, J. Craig Venter Institute, San Diego, California, USA.
Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol. 2013 Jan;115(1):71-8. doi: 10.1016/j.oooo.2012.08.446.
Bacterial biofilms play a role in the pathogenesis of bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (BRONJ). The purpose of this preliminary study was to test the hypothesis that the extracellular filaments observed in biofilms associated with BRONJ contain electrically conductive nanowires.
Bone samples of patients affected by BRONJ were evaluated for conductive nanowires by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and conductive probe atomic force microscopy (CP-AFM). We created nanofabricated electrodes to measure electrical transport along putative nanowires.
SEM revealed large-scale multispecies biofilms containing numerous filamentous structures throughout necrotic bone. CP-AFM analysis revealed that these structures were electrically conductive nanowires with resistivities on the order of 20 Ω·cm. Nanofabricated electrodes spaced along the nanowires confirmed their ability to transfer electrons over micron-scale lengths.
Electrically conductive bacterial nanowires to date have been described only in environmental isolates. This study shows for the first time that these nanowires can also be found in clinically relevant biofilm-mediated diseases, such as BRONJ, and may represent an important target for therapy.
细菌生物膜在双膦酸盐相关性下颌骨坏死（BRONJ）的发病机制中起作用。本初步研究旨在验证以下假设，即与 BRONJ 相关的生物膜中观察到的细胞外细丝含有导电纳米线。
通过扫描电子显微镜（SEM）和导电探针原子力显微镜（CP-AFM）评估受 BRONJ 影响的患者的骨样本中是否存在导电纳米线。我们制造了纳米制造电极来测量沿假定纳米线的电传输。
SEM 显示了包含大量丝状结构的大规模多物种生物膜，这些结构遍布坏死骨中。CP-AFM 分析表明，这些结构是具有 20 Ω·cm 左右电阻率的导电纳米线。沿着纳米线间隔的纳米制造电极证实了它们在微米级长度上传递电子的能力。
迄今为止，导电细菌纳米线仅在环境分离株中得到描述。本研究首次表明，这些纳米线也可以在临床上相关的生物膜介导疾病中找到，例如 BRONJ，并且可能是治疗的重要目标。
