# Promoting Healing: Metabolic immunomodulation of macrophages by bacteria biofilms

> **NIH NIH P20** · IDAHO VETERANS RESEARCH / EDUCATION FDN · 2020 · $224,221

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY (See instructions): 
Background: Despite extensive investment in better healthcare practices, hospital acquired infections (HAIs) remain a 
major public health concern. Currently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that about one 
in twenty-five patients receiving treatment at acute care hospitals in the United States have acquired a preventable 
infection, often resulting in chronic, non-healing wounds. Colonizing bacterial biofilms are a major contributor to delayed 
healing; however how the metabolic phenotype of a colonizing biofilm influences the wound healing process remains 
largely unknown. Overall Hypothesis: Our preliminary findings support to our broad research hypothesis that bacterial 
biofilms mediate specific pathological effects against host innate immune cells within the wound environment, 
resulting in deviation from the normal wound healing process and leading to wound chronicity. As a step 
towards the ultimate goal of discovering novel therapeutic targets for chronic wounds, this proposal will achieve the 
following Specific Aims: Investigate whether exposure to Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa 
biofilms in vitro results in a metabolic deviation in innate immune cells that drives a phenotypic shift towards 
inflammation. This aim will capture the metabolic interactome of host and pathogen for both a key Gram-positive and 
Gram-negative pathogen, providing important insight into how metabotype of pathogen regulates macrophage 
polarization. Aim 2: Explore whether a correlation between bacterial colonization, metabolic landscape, and 
macrophage polarization is related to non-healing in wounds. This aim will take the first step towards clinical 
translation of the hypothesis that metabolic immunomodulation of macrophages is key to failure of wounds to heal.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10134778
- **Project number:** 5P20GM109007-05
- **Recipient organization:** IDAHO VETERANS RESEARCH / EDUCATION FDN
- **Principal Investigator:** M Ammons
- **Activity code:** P20 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $224,221
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** — → 2022-03-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10134778

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10134778, Promoting Healing: Metabolic immunomodulation of macrophages by bacteria biofilms (5P20GM109007-05). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10134778. Licensed CC0.

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