Can Mushrooms Help Heal Infected Wounds?

Infections remain one of the most stubborn complications in wound care, often leading to delayed healing, extended hospital stays, and higher healthcare costs. Antibiotic resistance has only made the problem worse, pushing researchers to explore new materials and mechanisms that support healing while killing bacteria—without relying on drugs. A new study published in Bioactive Materials offers an unconventional candidate: the humble mushroom, Agaricus bisporus.

A Trap-Capture-Kill System Made From Fungus

Researchers from several institutions in China have developed a wound dressing built from decellularised stems of Agaricus bisporus, more commonly known as the white button mushroom. These stems were processed into an aerogel—a porous, sponge-like material—then coated with lysine-modified graphene oxide and polydopamine. The result is a composite dressing (DS/PDA@GO-L) with a three-step antibacterial mechanism: attract bacteria, trap them inside the scaffold, and kill them using light-activated heat.

Image credit: C.Zhang & al.

The key lies in the bacteria’s own behaviour. Many pathogenic bacteria are chemotactic—they migrate toward nutrients like lysine. In this system, the lysine acts like bait. Once the bacteria move toward and into the sponge, the graphene oxide coating turns near-infrared light into heat, effectively burning them in place. In tests on rats, the dressing eliminated more than 95% of bacteria including Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

Regenerating While Disinfecting

Beyond its antibacterial activity, the dressing was designed to support healing. Its channelled, porous architecture encourages cell infiltration, blood vessel formation, and collagen deposition. In animal trials, wounds treated with DS/PDA@GO-L closed faster and showed more granulation tissue and vascularisation than controls. Importantly, the material showed low cytotoxicity and passed hemocompatibility tests, supporting its suitability for medical use.

Crucially, the dressing didn’t just reduce bacterial load—it also reshaped the immune response. The presence of pro-inflammatory cytokines dropped, while levels of anti-inflammatory markers increased. Macrophages in the wound shifted from a destructive M1 state to a regenerative M2 state. This kind of immunomodulation is increasingly seen as vital in chronic wound care, especially in conditions like diabetic ulcers.

Mushrooms as Functional Biomaterials

This work builds on previous research showing that fungal structures offer a useful combination of porosity, water retention, and bioactivity. A 2023 study in Chemical Engineering Journal demonstrated that aligned microtubules in decellularised mushroom tissue enabled rapid blood absorption and hemostasis, making it a candidate for emergency trauma care.

Meanwhile, graphene oxide and polydopamine—both used in the new wound dressing—are already known for their antibacterial and photothermal properties. But combining them with a biodegradable mushroom scaffold adds a layer of sustainability and accessibility that’s often missing from synthetic biomaterials.

What’s Next?

The authors suggest this trap-capture-kill dressing could be applied to chronic wounds, diabetic ulcers, burns, and postoperative sites where infection risk is high and biofilms are difficult to eliminate. Its ability to kill without antibiotics and support tissue regeneration makes it a promising alternative for hard-to-treat wounds.

Further work will focus on scaling up production and validating safety in clinical settings. Given that Agaricus bisporus is widely cultivated and affordable, supply of raw material is unlikely to be a limiting factor.