Bacteria that secrete CXCL12 could enhance wound healing

In a study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the co-founders of Ilya Pharma AB (Uppsala, Sweden) showed topical delivery of Lactobacillus reuteri engineered to express chemokine CXC motif ligand 12 (CXCL12; SDF-1) could accelerate wound healing. The company plans to start clinical trials by year end.

While CXCL12 has been known to induce wound healing, the chemokine is rapidly broken down by proteases in the extracellular environment. The researchers, headed by Ilya co-founder and CSO Mia Phillipson’s academic group at Uppsala University, showed that using L. reuteri as a vector for CXCL12 not only led to continuous chemokine expression but the bacteria also decreased the pH of the wound environment, preventing protease-mediated breakdown of the chemokine...