• Featured in Physics
  • Editors' Suggestion

Helicobacter pylori Couples Motility and Diffusion to Actively Create a Heterogeneous Complex Medium in Gastric Mucus

Seyed Amir Mirbagheri and Henry Chien Fu
Phys. Rev. Lett. 116, 198101 – Published 10 May 2016
Physics logo See Synopsis: Bacteria Create Own Swim Lane
PDFHTMLExport Citation

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori swims through mucus gel by generating ammonia that locally neutralizes the acidic gastric environment, turning nearby gel into a fluid pocket. The size of the fluid zone is important for determining the physics of the motility: in a large zone swimming occurs as in a fluid through hydrodynamic principles, while in a very small zone the motility could be strongly influenced by nonhydrodynamic cell-mucus interactions including chemistry and adhesion. Here, we calculate the size of the fluid pocket. We model how swimming depends on the de-gelation range using a Taylor sheet swimming through a layer of Newtonian fluid bounded by a Brinkman fluid. Then, we model how the de-gelation range depends on the swimming speed by considering the advection-diffusion of ammonia exuded from a translating sphere. Self-consistency between both models determines the values of the swimming speed and the de-gelation range. We find that H. pylori swims through mucus as if unconfined, in a large pocket of Newtonian fluid.

  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Figure
  • Received 8 January 2016

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.116.198101

© 2016 American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Polymers & Soft MatterPhysics of Living Systems

Synopsis

Key Image

Bacteria Create Own Swim Lane

Published 10 May 2016

Researchers calculate the size of a low-resistance buffer zone created by microbial organisms as they swim through the mucus lining of the stomach.

See more in Physics

Authors & Affiliations

Seyed Amir Mirbagheri and Henry Chien Fu*

  • Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nevada, Reno, Reno, Nevada 89557, USA

  • *hfu@unr.edu

Article Text (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

Supplemental Material (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand

References (Subscription Required)

Click to Expand
Issue

Vol. 116, Iss. 19 — 13 May 2016

Reuse & Permissions
Access Options
CHORUS

Article Available via CHORUS

Download Accepted Manuscript
Author publication services for translation and copyediting assistance advertisement

Authorization Required


×
×

Images

×

Sign up to receive regular email alerts from Physical Review Letters

Log In

Cancel
×

Search


Article Lookup

Paste a citation or DOI

Enter a citation
×