Despite the progress in surgical techniques and antibiotic prophylaxis, opportunistic wound infections with remain a public health problem. Secreted toxins are one of the main factors contributing to . pathogenicity. A promising strategy to treat such infections is to target these toxins and not the bacteria. Although the exoenzymes produced by . are thoroughly investigated, little is known about the role of . collagenases in wound infections. In this report, the collagenolytic activity of secreted collagenases (Col) is characterized in the . culture supernatant (csn) and its isolated recombinantly produced ColQ1 is characterized. The data reveals that ColQ1 causes damage on dermal collagen (COL). This results in gaps in the tissue, which might facilitate the spread of bacteria. The importance of . collagenases is also demonstrated in disease promotion using two inhibitors. Compound 2 shows high efficacy in peptidolytic, gelatinolytic, and COL degradation assays. It also preserves the fibrillar COLs in skin tissue challenged with ColQ1, as well as the viability of skin cells treated with . csn. A model highlights the significance of collagenase inhibition in vivo.