Scientific article
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Enterococcus faecalis redox metabolism activates the unfolded protein response to impair wound healing

Published inScience advances, vol. 12, no. 3, eaeb5297
Publication date2026-01-16
First online date2026-01-16
Abstract

Enterococcus faecalis is an opportunistic pathogen that thrives in biofilm-associated infections and delays wound healing, yet how it impairs host tissue responses is unclear. Here, we identified extracellular electron transport (EET) as a previously unrecognized source of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in E. faecalis and showed that this activity directly triggers the unfolded protein response (UPR) in epithelial cells and delays epithelial cell migration. ROS detoxification with catalase suppressed E. faecalis -induced UPR and rescued epithelial cell migration, while exogenous hydrogen peroxide was sufficient to restore UPR activation in EET-deficient strains. UPR disruption by pharmacological inhibition also impaired cell migration, highlighting a critical role for UPR homeostasis in wound repair. Our findings establish EET as a virulence mechanism that links bacterial redox metabolism to host cell stress and impaired repair, offering previously unidentified avenues for therapeutic intervention in chronic infections.

Keywords
  • Unfolded Protein Response
  • Enterococcus faecalis / metabolism
  • Enterococcus faecalis / pathogenicity
  • Wound Healing
  • Oxidation-Reduction
  • Reactive Oxygen Species / metabolism
  • Humans
  • Hydrogen Peroxide / metabolism
  • Cell Movement
  • Epithelial Cells / metabolism
  • Epithelial Cells / microbiology
  • Animals
  • Electron Transport
Citation (ISO format)
TAN, Aaron Ming Zhi et al. Enterococcus faecalis redox metabolism activates the unfolded protein response to impair wound healing. In: Science advances, 2026, vol. 12, n° 3, p. eaeb5297. doi: 10.1126/sciadv.aeb5297
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Additional URL for this publicationhttps://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.aeb5297
Journal ISSN2375-2548
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