生物膜形成保护细菌免受抗生素治疗和宿主免疫反应，使生物膜感染难以治疗。在生物膜中，细菌细胞缠绕在自身产生的细胞外基质中,所述细胞外基质通常包括胞外多糖。生物膜基质组分的分子水平描述，尤其是胞外多糖，由于其复杂的性质以及缺乏溶解度和结晶度，因此很难获得。固态核磁共振（NMR）已成为确定生物膜基质胞外多糖结构而无需降解样品制备的关键工具。在这次审查中,我们讨论了研究生物膜基质胞外多糖的挑战以及开发固态NMR方法来研究这些通常难以处理的材料的机会。我们特别强调了由机会病原体制成的称为Pel的胞外多糖的研究，铜绿假单胞菌.我们提供了确定胞外多糖结构的路线图，并讨论了使用固态NMR研究此类系统的未来机会。所讨论的用于阐明生物膜胞外多糖结构的策略应广泛适用于研究其他聚糖的结构。
Biofilm formation protects bacteria from antibiotic treatment and host immune responses, making biofilm infections difficult to treat. Within biofilms, bacterial cells are entangled in a self-produced extracellular matrix that typically includes exopolysaccharides. Molecular-level descriptions of biofilm matrix components, especially exopolysaccharides, have been challenging to attain due to their complex nature and lack of solubility and crystallinity. Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) has emerged as a key tool to determine the structure of biofilm matrix exopolysaccharides without degradative sample preparation. In this review, we discuss challenges of studying biofilm matrix exopolysaccharides and opportunities to develop solid-state NMR approaches to study these generally intractable materials. We specifically highlight investigations of the exopolysaccharide called Pel made by the opportunistic pathogen, Pseudomonas aeruginosa. We provide a roadmap for determining exopolysaccharide structure and discuss future opportunities to study such systems using solid-state NMR. The strategies discussed for elucidating biofilm exopolysaccharide structure should be broadly applicable to studying the structures of other glycans.
