New Approach Methodologies in Virus and Host Immunity

The study of virus–host immunity has undergone rapid transformation with the emergence of high-dimensional and single-cell technologies. Traditional immunological approaches have provided fundamental insight into immune responses against viral infections, yet they often lacked the resolution to capture the spatial and temporal complexity of immune–viral interactions. Recent advancements, including spectral flow cytometry, mass cytometry (CyTOF), single-cell receptor sequencing, and spatial immunology, offer unprecedented opportunities to interrogate the immune landscape at the cellular and molecular levels. However, integrating these datasets and translating them into biologically meaningful frameworks remain significant challenges, limiting our understanding of how host immunity evolves during infection and recovery.This Research Topic aims to promote the development and application of new approach methodologies (NAMs) to dissect virus–host immune dynamics. By leveraging high-parameter analytical technologies and computational integration, this collection seeks to identify how these methods can redefine our knowledge of antiviral defense, immune evasion, and tissue-specific immune regulation. The goal is to bring together innovative studies that use these advanced platforms to reveal immune cell phenotypes, transcriptomic states, and spatial relationships that govern viral pathogenesis. Contributions exploring experimental design, data harmonization, and novel analytical workflows will also help accelerate discovery and reproducibility in this rapidly evolving field.The scope of this Research Topic encompasses experimental, computational, and translational studies deploying or developing NAMs in viral immunology. Contributions may range from basic mechanistic work to translational and systems-level investigations.To gather further insights into virus–host immune dynamics, we welcome articles addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:o Spectral flow cytometry and mass cytometry (CyTOF) analyses of viral immune responseso Single-cell BCR/TCR sequencing to explore immune diversity during infectiono Spatial transcriptomics and spatial proteomics in viral microenvironmentso Computational pipelines and data integration methods for high-dimensional immunological datao Comparative studies employing multi-omics to map immune–viral interactionso Methodological innovations improving reproducibility and data interpretation in NAM-based immunologyArticle types may include Original Research, Methods, Reviews, and Perspectives. Topic editors: Jiann-Ruey Hong Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/83278/new-approach-methodologies-in-virus-and-host-immunity