Download or read book Game Theoretic Analysis of Persister Dynamics in Biofilm written by Christopher Lee Allen and published by . This book was released on 2009 with total page 37 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Abstract: Biofilm has been determined to play a significant role in approximately 80% of all infectious diseases (NIH, NHLBI). They are most well known for their keen ability to resist antibiotic treatment (Costerton, et al.) by way of is the persister cell, a 'specialized survivor cell' (Keren, et al.). The purpose of this study is to examine the mathematical dynamics from a game theoretic perspective. In order to complete this study, several methods were employed. Initially, a payoff matrix dictated the effects of a cell adopting the susceptible or persister growth states with and without antibiotic presence. Next, replicator equations modeled the growth of susceptible and persister cells. Finally, simulations modeled simple growth with antibiotics, treatments with active antibiotic invasion, and treatment with multiple drugs to model drug resistance. In the first simulation, it was found that a particular treatment schedule was the most efficient while any other schedule was less efficient. In the other three simulations, variations in the data were found while still showing on common ground that the active antibiotic invasion successfully aided biofilm eradication when the treatment schedule became too intermittent to effectively eradicate the biofilm. This is in accordance with a variety of theoretical and experimental observations in spatially homogeneous environments. One novel aspect of this investigation is the spatial distribution of the state variables which is currently the focus of a variety of theoretical investigations.