Immunometabolic and epigenetic reprogramming by probiotics and postbiotics in one health: advancing immune resilience and AMR mitigation

The field of microbial immunology has increasingly recognized that the influence of microbes on host defense extends beyond classical pathogenicity, encompassing sophisticated mechanisms by which commensal and beneficial microorganisms dynamically shape immunity. Recent advances highlight how probiotics, postbiotics, and microbial metabolites can trigger immune reprogramming—for example, through the induction of trained immunity and immunometabolic remodeling that persistently alter the responsiveness of innate and adaptive immune compartments. At the cellular and molecular level, these effects engage a web of pattern recognition receptors, cytokine networks, and metabolic sensors, culminating in a complex crosstalk between microbial signals and host immune circuits. While groundbreaking studies have revealed key features of these processes, knowledge gaps remain regarding the precise molecular pathways, the role of specific microbial products or strains, and the broader consequences for immune homeostasis and host protection. Ongoing debates concern the specificity, duration, and reversibility of microbe-induced immune programming, and the extent to which trained immunity can be harnessed for therapeutic benefit.

This Research Topic aims to illuminate the mechanistic basis by which microbial interventions—including probiotics, postbiotics, and defined microbial metabolites—modulate immune responses via trained immunity, immunometabolic rewiring, and targeted modulation of host–microbe molecular interactions. The goal is to consolidate high-quality research that deciphers the induction, maintenance, and functional impact of microbe-driven immune plasticity, including the downstream effects on cytokine signaling and adaptive immune responses. Core objectives include clarifying the molecular signaling events and host sensing mechanisms that define immunological outcomes; characterizing the interplay between metabolic remodeling and immune training; and providing rigorous, system-level insight into how microbial factors sculpt immune cell fate and function. This topic seeks to answer how microbial cues can reliably modulate immune programming, what molecular sensors and pathways are involved, and what immunological consequences arise from such reprogramming—thus opening new avenues for mechanistically informed microbial immunotherapies.

To gather further insights within the defined boundaries of mechanistic microbial immunology, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:

-Molecular mechanisms of trained immunity induction by probiotics, postbiotics, and microbial metabolites
-Immunometabolic reprogramming pathways triggered by microbial products in innate and adaptive immune cells
-Host sensing of microbial metabolites, bacteriocins, and microbial-derived signaling molecules via pattern recognition or metabolic receptors
-Cytokine networks and signaling cascades influenced by microbial cues, and their downstream impact on immune polarization
-Cellular and systems-level integration of metabolomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic data revealing microbe-driven immune reprogramming
-Comparative analyses of probiotic strains, postbiotic classes, or microbial metabolites in shaping distinct immune endotypes or responses
-Mechanistically focused studies utilizing in vitro, ex vivo, or in vivo models to dissect host–microbe molecular interactions and immune outcomes
-Principles of immune plasticity, tolerance, and memory revealed by microbial modulation, with implications for future immunotherapeutics

We welcome Original Research, Reviews, Mini Reviews, Perspectives, and Methods articles that are mechanistically grounded, interrogating how microbial products reprogram immune function at the molecular and cellular level. Submissions must present or synthesise mechanistic data from in vitro, ex vivo, or in vivo models, with clear focus on molecular signalling, epigenetic reprogramming, immunometabolic rewiring, or innate immune memory.

The topic editors declare no conflicts of interest