Post-translational modifications in diabetic wound healing: Research hotspots and mechanistic insights

Diabetic chronic wounds, particularly diabetic foot ulcers, represent one of the most severe complications of diabetes, with high morbidity, disability, and mortality. Emerging evidence indicates that post-translational modifications (PTMs)—including phosphorylation, acetylation, ubiquitination, methylation, glycosylation, hydroxylation, and others—play central roles in regulating inflammation, angiogenesis, oxidative stress, and extracellular matrix remodeling during wound repair. Despite the growing number of studies, there has been no integrated bibliometric and mechanistic review to systematically evaluate the research landscape and biological implications of PTMs in diabetic wound healing. This project aims to conduct a bibliometric analysis combined with a narrative synthesis of PTM-related mechanisms. Literature will be retrieved from the Web of Science Core Collection (from inception to September 25, 2025). Tools such as CiteSpace, VOSviewer, and bibliometrix (R package) will be applied to analyze publication trends, international collaborations, keyword co-occurrence, thematic evolution, and co-citation networks. The results will be visualized through trend graphs, collaboration maps, keyword clusters, and dual-map overlays. In addition, we will summarize mechanistic evidence linking specific PTMs to wound healing outcomes. A structured table will present PTM type, protein target, modification site, functional consequence, and experimental context, with particular focus on key proteins such as HIF-1α, NF-κB, SIRT1, Nrf2, COL1A1, and MMP-9. This dual approach will not only identify research hotspots and frontiers but also provide biological insights into how PTMs influence diabetic wound healing.