Immune Cell Remodeling and Reprogramming in Infectious Diseases: Single-Cell and Spatial Insights toward Precision Therapeutics

Infectious diseases continue to pose one of the greatest global health challenges, with outcomes influenced as much by host immune responses as by pathogen properties. Recent discoveries highlight that immune cell populations undergo continuous remodeling and reprogramming during infection, processes that determine pathogen clearance, disease persistence, immune-mediated pathology, and therapeutic response. Understanding how immune cells functionally, metabolically, and epigenetically rewire during infection has emerged as a crucial step toward defining disease trajectories and treatment outcomes. While traditional studies have often centered on pathogen-driven mechanisms, the focus is now shifting to the host-side dynamics that dictate infection progression and recovery. With the advent of single-cell and spatial omics technologies, researchers are beginning to uncover the hidden diversity and complex interactions of immune cells across infectious contexts such as HIV, tuberculosis, chronic viral hepatitis, COVID-19, and antimicrobial-resistant infections. Yet, despite major advances, the translation of these multi-dimensional insights into clinically actionable biomarkers and host-directed therapies remains a significant frontier.This Research Topic aims to illuminate the mechanisms underpinning immune cell remodeling and reprogramming during infectious diseases using high-resolution single-cell, spatial, and integrative multi-omics approaches. By emphasizing host immune dynamics over pathogen-specific virulence strategies, the Research Topic seeks to identify and validate immune signatures that predict disease outcome, therapeutic response, and opportunities for intervention. It encourages studies that bridge basic immunology with translational and clinical research to advance precision medicine in infectious diseases. Through this lens, we aim to deepen the mechanistic understanding of host–pathogen interplay, uncover immune biomarkers for diagnosis and prognosis, and accelerate the development of targeted, host-directed therapeutics.This Research Topic is specifically delimited to investigations focusing on host immune cell remodeling and its decoding through single-cell, spatial, and multi-omics technologies. Studies focusing exclusively on pathogen virulence mechanisms or innate-sensor signaling without an immune remodeling or translational component fall outside this scope. To gather further insights into immune dynamics across infection contexts, we welcome submissions addressing, but not limited to the following themes:o Immune remodeling and cellular reprogramming during infection, including monocyte–macrophage plasticity, T-cell exhaustion, B-cell and NK-cell dysfunction, dendritic-cell reprogramming, neutrophil heterogeneity, trained immunity, and metabolic or epigenetic adaptation.o Application of single-cell, spatial, and multi-omics technologies to map immune cell states, trajectories, and cell–cell communication.o Interactions between the microbiome and host immune remodeling in infection, including biofilm-associated infections and microbiota-driven inflammatory responses.o Immune biomarkers, precision therapeutics, and host-directed interventions emerging from immune-remodeling signatures.o Clinical Translation and Implementation: Longitudinal cohort studies, clinical trials, real-world evidence, implementation science, and artificial intelligence-based approaches that facilitate the translation of immunological discoveries into clinical practice. Topic editors: Shaohang Cai, Shuqin Gu, Jun Wang Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/83666/immune-cell-remodeling-and-reprogramming-in-infectious-diseases-single-cell-and-spatial-insights-toward-precision-therapeutics