REVIEW article
Front. Immunol.
Sec. Microbial Immunology
This article is part of the Research TopicNew Generation Bacterial Vaccines Based on Immune Correlates of ProtectionView all 5 articles
Precision Bacterial Immunotherapy: An Integrated Mechanistic Taxonomy and Translational Roadmap Against Antimicrobial Resistance
Provisionally accepted- 1Central South University Xiangya School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Changsha, China
- 2Xiangya Hospital Central South University, Changsha, China
- 3The Quzhou Affiliated Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Quzhou People’ s Hospital,, Quzhou, China
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An integrated, host-directed therapeutic strategy is urgently required to outpace the accelerating threat of antimicrobial resistance (AMR), because pathogen-centred antibiotics are losing efficacy worldwide. The growing threat of antimicrobial resistance has made traditional antibiotics less and less effective, and it has also shown that our pathogen-centered treatment model has systemic flaws. Bacterial immunotherapy offers an alternative that is directed at the host. Still, its many forms, such as innate immune agonists, monoclonal antibodies, engineered cells, CRISPR-based antimicrobials, and aptamer-guided nanoplatforms, have mostly been looked at separately. We put these different approaches together in this narrative review to create a new mechanistic taxonomy that shows how they can be used together to break down biofilms, stop efflux pumps, and get rid of intracellular reservoirs. We then put each modality on a translational continuum, from bench-top proof-of-concept to late-stage trials, and find the most essential delivery, safety, and regulatory problems. Lastly, we describe a precision-first vision that uses multi-omics profiling and theranostic platforms to help with patient stratification, adaptive dosing, and real-time monitoring. This review shows a straightforward way to turn narrative insights into context-sensitive, long-lasting interventions that will work with and maybe even change the future of infectious disease medicine by co-developing immunotherapeutic strategies with advanced diagnostics and stewardship frameworks.
Keywords: Bacterial immunotherapy, antimicrobial resistance, monoclonal antibodies, CRISPR therapeutics, Nanoparticle delivery, host–pathogen interaction
Received: 29 Jul 2025; Accepted: 27 Nov 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Al-Azzani, Arthur Vithran, Aliouat, Zhou and Mao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Wenhu Zhou
Xiaoqiang Mao
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.
