📢 Our new preprint is out! We show how the common gut bacterium 𝘌. 𝘧𝘢𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴 stops wound healing. It uses a metabolic pathway, extracellular electron transport (EET), to stress host cells, halting their migration. Watch WT bacteria (orange) stop the cells while the mutant (blue) doesn't!

The key mechanism? 𝘌. 𝘧𝘢𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴's EET pathway produces a burst of reactive oxygen species (ROS). This, in turn, hyperactivates the unfolded protein response (UPR) in the host's epithelial cells, causing them to stall and even retract from the wound edge. doi.org/10.1101/2025.08.07.669218

This direct link between bacterial metabolism and host cell stress is a new paradigm for understanding how chronic wounds fail to heal. By targeting this pathway, we might be able to develop new therapies to promote tissue repair. #microbiology #woundhealing