Rumbaugh Kendra P, Whiteley Marvin
Department of Surgery, Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center and Burn Center of Research Excellence, Lubbock, TX, USA.
School of Biological Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, Emory Children's Cystic Fibrosis Center, and Center for Microbial Dynamics and Infection, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Nat Rev Microbiol. 2025 Jan;23(1):57-66. doi: 10.1038/s41579-024-01086-2. Epub 2024 Aug 7.
Biofilms are complex microbial communities that have a critical function in many natural ecosystems, industrial settings as well as in recurrent and chronic infections. Biofilms are highly heterogeneous and dynamic assemblages that display complex responses to varying environmental factors, and those properties present substantial challenges for their study and control. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in developing improved biofilm models to offer more precise and comprehensive representations of these intricate systems. However, an objective assessment for ascertaining the ability of biofilms in model systems to recapitulate those in natural environments has been lacking. In this Perspective, we focus on medical biofilms to delve into the current state-of-the-art in biofilm modelling, emphasizing the advantages and limitations of different approaches and addressing the key challenges and opportunities for future research. We outline a framework for quantitatively assessing model accuracy. Ultimately, this Perspective aims to provide a comprehensive and critical overview of medically focused biofilm models, with the intent of inspiring future research aimed at enhancing the biological relevance of biofilm models.
生物膜是复杂的微生物群落，在许多自然生态系统、工业环境以及复发性和慢性感染中都具有关键作用。生物膜是高度异质且动态的集合体，对不同的环境因素表现出复杂的反应，这些特性给其研究和控制带来了巨大挑战。近年来，人们对开发改进的生物膜模型越来越感兴趣，以更精确、全面地呈现这些复杂系统。然而，一直缺乏对模型系统中的生物膜能否重现自然环境中的生物膜的能力进行客观评估。在这篇观点文章中，我们聚焦于医学生物膜，深入探讨生物膜建模的当前技术水平，强调不同方法的优缺点，并探讨未来研究的关键挑战和机遇。我们概述了一个定量评估模型准确性的框架。最终，这篇观点文章旨在对以医学为重点的生物膜模型进行全面而批判性的综述，旨在激发未来旨在提高生物膜模型生物学相关性的研究。
