ArticleEMBO molecular medicine2025
Saccharin disrupts bacterial cell envelope stability and interferes with DNA replication dynamics.
Article in EMBO molecular medicine, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed.
- Drug-microbiome-host interactions: antimicrobial effects of non-antibiotic compounds.Nature reviews. Gastroenterology & hepatology · 2026Review
- Xylose-induced tricarboxylic acid cycle activation resensitizes gentamicin-resistantApplied and environmental microbiology · 2026Article
- Effects of Non-Nutritive Artificial Sweeteners on Gut Microbiota and Host Metabolism and Health-Related Outcomes: A Review.Nutrients · 2026Review
- Artificial Sweeteners Induce Bacterial Drug Resistance and Modulate Gene Expression.Infection and drug resistance · 2026Article
- Comparative study of common over-the-counter wound care products against early and mature biofilms of antibiotic-resistant wound pathogens.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2025Article
- DNA uptake and twitching motility are controlled by the small RNA Arp through repression of pilin translation inbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
17 authors.
Funding
Abstract
Saccharin has been part of the human diet for over 100 years, and there is a comprehensive body of evidence demonstrating that it can influence the gut microbiome, ultimately impacting human health. However, the precise mechanisms through which saccharin can impact bacteria have remained elusive. In this work, we demonstrate that saccharin inhibits cell division, leading to cell filamentation with altered DNA synthesis dynamics. We show that these effects on the cell are superseded by the formation of bulges emerging from the cell envelope, which ultimately trigger cell lysis. We demonstrate that saccharin can inhibit the growth of both Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria as well as disrupt key phenotypes linked to host colonisation, such as motility and biofilm formation. In addition, we test its potential to disrupt established biofilms (single-species as well as polymicrobial) and its capacity to re-sensitise multidrug-resistant pathogens to last-resort antibiotics. Finally, we present in vitro and ex vivo evidence of the versatility of saccharin as a potential antimicrobial by integrating it into an effective hydrogel wound dressing.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.