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REVIEW article

Front. Microbiol.

Sec. Phage Biology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1660791

This article is part of the Research TopicHarnessing Bacteriophages and Phage-Engineered Products for Antibacterial and Anticancer Therapies: Challenges and OpportunitiesView all 9 articles

Endolysins: Targeting Streptococcus pneumoniae in its Major Anatomical Niches of Infection and Addressing the Hurdles

Provisionally accepted
  • University of Maryland, College Park, College Park, United States

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Streptococcus pneumoniae is responsible for causing a range of diseases, from self-limiting otitis media to more severe disease such as pneumonia, sepsis, and meningitis. Vaccines and antibiotics have successfully decreased this disease burden; however, serotype replacement due to vaccines and antibiotic resistance remain issues pointing to the need for further research into alternative methods of treatment. S. pneumoniae continues to pose a global threat to young children and the elderly. Endolysins, which function as peptidoglycan hydrolases, are an attractive alternative treatment given their rapid bactericidal activity, specificity, and lack of noted resistance. This review considers the uses of endolysins within the main niches of infection for S. pneumoniae: pulmonary, middle ear, and the bloodstream and central nervous system. Therapeutic hurdles, such as delivery and mechanical barrier challenges, are discussed and endolysin-focused solutions to circumvent these challenges are proposed. The ability to address niche-specific hurdles using endolysins will allow for an increase in effective therapies against S. pneumoniae.

Keywords: endolysin, Peptidoglycan hydrolase, Bacteriophage, Streptococcus pneumoniae, Pneumonia, Otitis Media, Meningitis, Sepsis

Received: 07 Jul 2025; Accepted: 15 Sep 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Castallanos, Gonzalez-Juarbe and Nelson. 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:
Norberto Gonzalez-Juarbe, ngj@umd.edu
Daniel C. Nelson, nelsond@umd.edu

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