Successful lnhlblLors were Lhen quanuLauvely analyzed by plpemng lncreaslng concenLrauons of Lhe

subsLances lnLo llquld succlnaLe medlum culLures grown for 22 hours. 1he opucal denslLy was
measured and Lhe culLures were cenLrlfuged. 1he supernaLanL uorescence lnLenslLy was calculaLed
wlLh an absorpuon peak of 403 nm and an emlsslon peak aL 432 nm. 1he daLa was Lransformed uslng
Lhls formula Lo produce Lhe nal ploL. lurLher analysls of coee Lo scan for posslble CS lnhlblLors
oLher Lhan caelne showed promlslng resulLs.






















Natural Quorum Sensing Inhibitors of P. aeruginosa
Lella Abdelrahman
Coral 8eef Senlor Plgh School


"# $%&'()*+,$ AC1 ls a gram negauve bacLerlal
human paLhogen LhaL causes pneumonla ln cysuc
brosls pauenLs as well as urlnary LracL lnfecuon.
Cuorum senslng (CS) lnhlblLors prevenL harmful
bacLerlal blolm formauon, whlch causes lnfecuon ln
humans.
yoverdln ls a uorescenL lron chelaung producL of
CS LhaL was used as an assay.




Acyl Pomoserlne LacLones (APL)s are secreLed by Lhe
bacLerlum. When a Lhreshold concenLrauon ls aualned,
APL blnds Lo a recepLor proLeln whlch blnds Lo a
promoLer and leads Lo Lhe expresslon of genes for
pyoverdln synLhesls.





















Background
1o dlscover new naLural quorum senslng
lnhlblLors uslng Lhe uorescence lnLenslLy of
pyoverdln as a measuremenL of CS acuvlLy
Aim
new lnhlblLors found lnclude coee, black Lea, and whlLe Lea.
now, Lhe nexL sLep ls Lo fracuonaLe Lhe subsLances Lo evenLually lsolaLe lndlvldual compounds.
WlLh Lhls lnformauon, we can look Lo oLher subsLances LhaL have slmllar chemlcal composluons as posslble
CSl lnhlblLors.
Conclusion and Discussion
1hls sLudy developed from an PPMl hlgh school program aL Lhe unlverslLy of Mlaml Mlller School of
Medlclne and was conducLed ln Lhe LaboraLory for Ceneuc 8ecomblnauon under dlrecuon of ur.
8lchard S. Myers, who provlded valuable guldance, lab space and maLerlals. 1hanks also Lo ur. Melvys
valledor for her advlce and Lo ur. 8alf Landgraf for Lhe use of hls uoromeLer. 1hanks Lo uMMSM for
allowlng me access Lo Lhls opporLunlLy.
Acknowledgments


















lanL compounds were exLracLed vla dlerenL
eLhanol, meLhanol, chloroform, and waLer
exLracuons.
1he exLracLs were Lhen screened for Lhelr lnhlbluon
emcacy by plpemng Lhem onLo a lLer dlsk on a
succlnaLe medlum peLrl plaLe. laLes LhaL showed
lnhlbluon dld noL show vlslble uorescence.
!"#$$%&%' )#&*+,
1op le: conLrol, 1op rlghL: green Lea,
bouom le: cranberry [ulce, bouom
rlghL: coee. An orange llghL lLer
makes Lhe uorescence appear more
green.
-./#*"01%

Le: 8lack 1ea, 8lghL: ConLrol
nouce Lhe Marked ulerence ln uorescence
Screenlng 8esulLs
Step 2: Quantitative Trials and Results
Las8
Lasl
lluorescence
Lxpresslon
-$, promoLer genes
0 50 100 150
0
20
40
60
80
Combined Inhibitors
Amount of Inhibitor (l)
P
e
r
c
e
n
t

I
n
h
i
b
i
t
i
o
n

(
%
)
Cranberry
Juice
White Tea
Black Tea
Coffee
!2""$,,32+ 4%5&6&/1#,
7 7879: 787: 78;9:

4%5&6&/1# <1%"$%/#*01% =>?>@

?unle Puang unlverslLy of 1exas
Step 1: Screening


1he uorescence specLrum of pyoverdln when "#
$%&'()*+,$ ls grown ln Lhe presence of a known CS
lnhlblLor, cloves (exLracLed ln LLCP) compared Lo
Lhe conLrol (LLCP).1he dlerence ln uorescence
lnLenslLy lndlcaLes a decrease ln quorum senslng
AcuvlLy.



Applications to Biotechnology
1he dlscovery of new naLural quorum senslng lnhlblLors ls lmporLanL because bacLerlal lnfecuons can
be posslbly prevenLed wlLhouL Lhe use of anubloucs. 1hese resulLs wlll serve as Lhe basls for Lhe
developmenL of new bacLerlal drugs LhaL lnhlblL quorum senslng ln vlvo. new synLheuc CS lnhlblLors
can also be synLheucally englneered Lo prevenL lnfecuon.
ure caelne was LesLed agalnsL decaelnaLed coee Lo
LesL for Lhe presence of oLher CS lnhlblLors. Surprlslng
resulLs lndlcaLed LhaL caelne acLually sumulaLed CS.