TY - JOUR T1 - Filamentous Bacteriophage Delay Healing of Pseudomonas-Infected Wounds JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/2020.03.10.985663 SP - 2020.03.10.985663 AU - Michelle S. Bach AU - Christiaan R. de Vries AU - Johanna M. Sweere AU - Medeea Popescu AU - Jonas D. Van Belleghem AU - Gernot Kaber AU - Elizabeth B. Burgener AU - Dan Liu AU - Quynh-Lam Tran AU - Tejas Dharmaraj AU - Maria Birukova AU - Vivekananda Sunkari AU - Swathi Balaji AU - Sundeep Keswani AU - Niaz Banaei AU - Dolly K. Khona AU - Laurence Nedelec AU - Chandan K. Sen AU - Venita Chandra AU - Patrick R. Secor AU - Gina A. Suh AU - Paul L. Bollyky Y1 - 2020/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/03/11/2020.03.10.985663.abstract N2 - We have identified a novel role for filamentous bacteriophage in the delayed healing associated with chronic Pseudomonas aeruginosa (Pa) wound infections. In a mouse model of chronic Pa-infected wounds, Pf, a filamentous phage produced by Pa, impaired keratinocyte migration, prevented wound re-epithelialization, and delayed healing in both the absence and presence of live bacteria. Mechanistically, the immune response to Pf phage produces soluble factors that impair keratinocyte migration and delay wound re-epithelialization. In a prospective cohort study of 113 human patients, Pa was detected in 36 patients and 25 of these (69%) were positive for Pf phage. Pf(+) wounds were significantly older and more likely to increase in size over time than Pf(-) wounds. Together, these data implicate Pf in the delayed wound healing associated with Pa infection. We propose that Pf phage may have potential as a biomarker and therapeutic target for delayed wound healing. ER -