Nature Reviews Microbiology ( IF 69.2 ) Pub Date : 2024-08-07 , DOI: 10.1038/s41579-024-01086-2 Kendra P Rumbaugh 1 , Marvin Whiteley 2
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.
中文翻译:
迈向改进的生物膜模型
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发挥着关键作用。生物膜是高度异质和动态的组合,对不同的环境因素表现出复杂的反应,这些特性给它们的研究和控制带来了重大挑战。近年来,人们对开发改进的生物膜模型以提供更精确和全面的这些复杂系统的表示越来越感兴趣。然而,一直缺乏确定模型系统中生物膜概括自然环境中生物膜的能力的客观评估。在这个视角中,我们专注于医学生物膜,深入研究生物膜建模的当前进展,强调不同方法的优势和局限性,并解决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,本 Perspective 旨在提供以医学为重点的生物膜模型的全面和批判性概述,旨在激发旨在增强生物膜模型生物学相关性的未来研究。