Structure, Mechanics, and Instability of Fibrin Clot Infected with Staphylococcus epidermidis

Health care-associated infection, over half of which can be attributed to indwelling medical devices, is a strong risk factor for thromboembolism. Although most experimental models of medical device infection draw upon isolated bacterial biofilms, in fact there is no infection without host protein contribution. Here we study, to our knowledge, a new model for medical device infection—that of an infected fibrin clot—and show that the common blood-borne pathogen Staphylococcus epidermidis influences this in vitro model of a blood clot mechanically and structurally on both microscopic and macroscopic scales.

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