Microbiome and nanoparticle regulation of respiratory tissue-resident immunity

Tissue-resident memory T and B cells act as the immune system's first line of defense at mucosal barriers, persisting locally in tissues such as the lung and airway epithelium to provide rapid, site-specific protection against reinfection, a mechanism increasingly recognized as central to durable respiratory immunity.Intranasal vaccination can drive the formation of these tissue-resident memory populations directly at the site of pathogen entry. This strategy has already moved from concept toward clinical use: platforms such as Bharat Biotech's iNCOVACC, an adenoviral-vectored SARS-CoV-2 vaccine authorized in India as both a primary series and heterologous booster, and the long-licensed live-attenuated influenza vaccine FluMist, demonstrate its potential to extend and broaden immunity against evolving respiratory viruses.In parallel, the local microbiota of the respiratory tract regulates this process. Age-related remodeling of the respiratory microbiome alters the composition and function of resident microbial communities in ways that compound the effects of immunosenescence: unvaccinated older adults show enrichment of pneumonia-associated taxa such as Staphylococcus aureus in the nasopharynx compared with younger or vaccinated individuals, and microbiome-linked shifts have been tied to variation in vaccine-induced mucosal IgA responses, weakening both the maintenance of resident memory populations and the immune response to vaccination in older adults.Nanoparticle-based delivery platforms offer a route to modulate mucosal immunity and reshape local microbiota composition with greater precision than conventional adjuvants allow. Chitosan- and lipid-based nanoparticle platforms, the same lipid nanoparticle technology behind licensed mRNA vaccines such as Comirnaty and Spikevax, are now being adapted for intranasal delivery to pursue this dual effect.Importantly, this topic extends beyond simply altering or monitoring local microbiota diversity through different modulatory platforms. Rather, it focuses on harnessing and modulating host-microbiota interactions at mucosal sites to enhance local immune activation, improve vaccine responses, and ultimately promote more effective and durable protective immunity.This collection brings together these threads, tissue-resident immunity, the respiratory microbiome, aging, and nanoparticle-based intervention, to consolidate current mechanistic understanding and translational progress in this space.ScopeThis collection focuses on immune responses in specific mucosal tissues outside the gut, with particular emphasis on the respiratory tract, covering:• the cellular and molecular mechanisms that establish and maintain tissue-resident memory T and B cells at respiratory and other non-gut mucosal surfaces;• nanoparticle-based platforms for the targeted modulation of mucosal immunity and local microbiota;• the effects of aging-associated microbiome remodeling and immunosenescence on tissue-resident memory quality and vaccine responsiveness; and• translational applications of microbiome-informed and nanoparticle-adjuvanted mucosal vaccine design.Submissions on respiratory microbiome composition or nanoparticle engineering that do not address their interaction with host immune mechanisms are outside the scope of this collection. Topic editors: Youngmin Son, Sung-Jin Yoon, In Su Cheon Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/86154/microbiome-and-nanoparticle-regulation-of-respiratory-tissue-resident-immunity