(Press-News.org)
An international team of scientists, led by Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (NTU Singapore), has discovered a new way that could speed up the healing of chronic wounds infected by antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
Worldwide, chronic wounds represent a major health challenge, with an estimated 18.6 million people developing diabetic foot ulcers[1] each year. Up to one in three people with diabetes are at risk of developing a foot ulcer during their lifetime.
These wounds are a leading cause of lower-limb amputations and are frequently complicated by persistent infections that prevent healing.
In Singapore, chronic wounds such as diabetic foot ulcers, pressure injuries and venous leg ulcers are increasingly common, with over 16,000 cases annually, particularly among older adults and people with diabetes[2].
Published in Science Advances, the study done with collaborators at the University of Geneva, Switzerland, shows how a common bacterium, Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis), actively prevents wound healing. The team also demonstrated how neutralising this biological process can allow skin cells to recover and close wounds.
E. faecalis is an opportunistic pathogen frequently found in chronic infections such as diabetic foot ulcers. These wounds are difficult to treat and often fail to heal, increasing the risk of complications and amputation.
Antibiotic resistance is also an increasing concern in E. faecalis, with some strains resistant to several commonly used antibiotics, making certain infections difficult to treat.
While such infections are known to delay healing, the biological mechanism behind this disruption has remained unclear to doctors and scientists.
The study is jointly led by NTU Associate Professor Guillaume Thibault from the School of Biological Sciences and Professor Kimberly Kline from the University of Geneva, who is a visiting professor at SCELSE – Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences and Engineering, at NTU.
The team discovered that unlike other bacteria, which produce toxins when they infect wounds, E. faecalis produces a metabolic product called reactive oxygen species (ROS) that impairs the healing process of human skin cells.
Mechanism that disrupts wound healing
First author of the paper, NTU Research Fellow Dr Aaron Tan, found that E. faecalis uses a metabolic process known as extracellular electron transport (EET), which continuously produces hydrogen peroxide, a highly reactive oxygen species that can damage living tissue.
When present in infected wounds, this bacterium produces hydrogen peroxide, which damages human skin cells through oxidative stress.
Laboratory experiments showed that oxidative stress triggers a cellular defence mechanism known as the “unfolded protein response” in skin cells called keratinocytes, which are responsible for skin repair.
This unfolded protein response is normally used by cells to cope with damage by slowing down protein production and other vital activities, so that they can recover.
Once activated, the stress response effectively paralyses the cells, preventing them from moving to close the wound, a process known as migration.
When the researchers used a genetically modified strain of E. faecalis that lacked the EET pathway, the bacteria produced significantly less hydrogen peroxide and were unable to block wound healing.
This confirmed that the metabolic pathway was central to the bacterium’s ability to disrupt skin repair. The team then tested whether neutralising the hydrogen peroxide could reverse the damage.
Potential solution that bypasses antibiotic-resistance
By treating affected skin cells with catalase, a naturally occurring antioxidant enzyme that breaks down hydrogen peroxide, the researchers reduced cellular stress and thus restored the cells’ ability to migrate and heal.
This offers another solution to tackle antibiotic-resistant E. faecalis strains rather than trying to kill or inhibit them with antibiotics.
“Our findings show that the bacteria’s metabolism itself is the weapon, which was a surprise finding previously unknown to scientists,” said Assoc Prof Thibault, who is also the Assistant Dean (International Engagement) at the College of Science.
“Instead of focusing on killing the bacteria with antibiotics, which is becoming increasingly difficult and leads to future antibiotic resistance, we can now neutralise it by blocking the harmful products it generates and restoring wound healing. Instead of targeting the source, we neutralise the actual cause of the chronic wounds – the reactive oxygen species.”
The study establishes a direct link between bacterial metabolism and host cell dysfunction, offering a new therapeutic strategy for chronic wounds.
The researchers suggest that wound dressings infused with antioxidants such as catalase could be an effective treatment in future.
Because antioxidants like catalase are already widely used and well understood, the researchers believe this strategy could shorten the path from laboratory research to clinical application, compared with developing a new drug.
As the study used human skin cells to demonstrate the mechanism, the findings are relevant to human physiology and may pave the way for new treatments for patients with non-healing wounds.
The team aims to move towards human clinical trials after determining the most effective way to deliver antioxidants through ongoing studies in animal models.
###
[1] Armstrong, D. G. (2023). Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Review. PubMed. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37395769/
[2] Goh, O. Q., et al. (2023). Chronic wounds in a multiethnic Asian population: a cost of illness study [Abstract]. BMJ Open. Retrieved from https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10510887/
END
Mass shootings in white-majority neighborhoods received roughly twice the news coverage of mass shootings in neighborhoods where a majority of residents were people of color, while coverage of police-involved shootings was disproportionately high in majority-minority communities, according to new research.
This study by researchers at the University of California, Davis, Northwestern University and the University of Washington is thought to be the first to systematically document bias on gun-violence reporting in a large-scale, nationally representative sample of news media coverage, researchers said.
Researchers analyzed nearly ...
An international group of researchers led by Pompeu Fabra University has discovered the nanomachine that controls constitutive exocytosis: the uninterrupted delivery of spherical molecular packages to the cell surface. This is an essential activity present in virtually all organisms to preserve cell fitness and other vital functions such as communication with the cell’s exterior, cell growth and division. According to Oriol Gallego, who has led the research, “despite being one of the largest nanomachines in ...
About The Study: This case-control study found that a Medicaid policy that incentivized high nursing home staffing levels was associated with modest improvement in some dimensions of patient health. However, even modest effects are extremely meaningful at scale: these estimates suggest that if a similar reform were adopted nationally, there would be 6,142 fewer hospitalizations each year.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Andrew Olenski, PhD, email ano223@lehigh.edu.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media website at this link https://media.jamanetwork.com/
(doi:10.1001/jamahealthforum.2025.6272)
Editor’s ...
About The Study: In this 2025 survey study, U.S. adults viewed opioid overdose as a serious problem. Different views on the degree to which individuals who use opioids, pharmaceutical companies, and governments are responsible for reducing overdose suggest that preferences for future actions to address overdose may vary among conservatives, moderates, and liberals.
Corresponding Author: To contact the corresponding author, Emma E. McGinty, PhD, MS, email emm4010@med.cornell.edu.
To access the embargoed study: Visit our For The Media ...
“Research findings suggest that advanced paternal age is associated with an increased risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in children.”
BUFFALO, NY — January 16, 2026 — A new research paper was published in Volume 17, Issue 12 of Aging-US on December 29, 2025, titled “Age-specific DNA methylation alterations in sperm at imprint control regions may contribute to the risk of autism spectrum disorder in offspring.”
The study – selected as our Editors’ Choice for January, 2026 – was led by first authors Eugenia Casella and ...
An ambitious effort to create a neurophysiological paradigm to explain near-death experiences has failed to capture many fascinating and often perplexing aspects of people’s brushes with death, top University of Virginia experts argue.
UVA near-death researchers Bruce Greyson, MD, and Marieta Pehlivanova, PhD, laud the international team of scientists who developed the model, called Neurophysiological Evolutionary Psychological Theory Understanding Near-Death Experience, or NEPTUNE. The NEPTUNE team aimed to bring scientific rigor to understanding near-death experiences (NDEs) – a goal shared by Greyson and Pehlivanova. ...
Inward foreign direct investment (IFDI) is known to be a significant driver of local economic development, especially in fostering entrepreneurship. Current studies have conducted in-depth investigations into the impact of IFDI on the survival, productivity, and innovation of established firms. Recently, a growing body of work has started to examine its influence on entrepreneurship and new venture creation. Notably, most of these studies leverage a broad, country-level perspective and often yield inconsistent findings. This represents a notable gap in existing literature on IFDI, particularly in the context of large emerging economies where ...
Many people are familiar with histamine, a biological molecule, that serves as a key driver of allergic reactions and other immune responses. However, histamine is also a major neurotransmitter in the mammalian brain, regulating essential cognitive functions like wakefulness, attention, and learning. Histamine levels are partially kept in check by the histamine H3 receptor (H3R), belonging to the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) family. In essence, H3R acts as a ‘braking system’ in the central nervous system, modulating the release of histamine and various neurotransmitters to maintain proper ...
Understanding human gene function in living organisms has long been hampered by fundamental differences between species. Although mice share most protein-coding genes with humans, their regulatory landscapes often diverge, limiting how accurately mouse models can mimic human biology. One promising solution is full-length gene humanization (FL-GH), in which entire mouse loci—including coding sequences, introns, untranslated regions, and regulatory elements—are replaced with their human counterparts. ...
Durotomy is a common neurosurgical complication involving a tear in the dura mater, the protective membrane surrounding the brain and spinal cord. Damage can cause cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage, leading to delayed healing, headaches, and infection, making a reliable watertight dural closure essential.
Tissue adhesives are increasingly explored as alternatives to suturing for dural closure because they offer simpler and faster application. However, many existing glue-based sealants suffer from excessive swelling, leading to mass effect and unwanted tissue adhesion, which can lead to postoperative complications. To address these limitations, researchers have investigated ...
