Understanding <i>Klebsiella pneumoniae</i>: Pathogenicity Mechanisms and Therapeutic Innovations Against Antimicrobial Resistance

Klebsiella pneumoniae is an opportunistic bacterial pathogen that causes pneumonia, bloodstream infections, urinary tract infections, and other severe healthcare-associated infections, especially in hospitalized and immunocompromised patients. The growing prevalence of multidrug-resistant strains, particularly those resistant to carbapenems and third-generation cephalosporins, has made this organism a major treatment challenge. The remarkable genomic plasticity of K. pneumoniae and its diverse virulence repertoire continue to challenge efforts to explain how specific strains colonize, invade, evade host defenses, and cause severe disease. This Research Topic will focus on the intersection of K. pneumoniae genomics, pathogenic mechanisms, host-pathogen interactions, and antimicrobial resistance, with special attention to resistant and hypervirulent lineages. It will bring together studies using high-throughput sequencing, functional genomics, molecular microbiology, immunology, and translational infection models to identify virulence determinants, define resistance-associated adaptations, and uncover candidate therapeutic targets. Particular emphasis will be placed on mechanisms that shape colonization, invasion, persistence, immune modulation, and transmission, as well as on findings that can inform diagnostics, surveillance, infection prevention, and the development of new intervention strategies for vulnerable patient populations.The collection welcomes articles related but not limited to the following areas.• Comparative genomic and phylogenomic analyses of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and hypervirulent (hvKP) K. pneumoniae lineages associated with healthcare and community settings.• Evolutionary pathways linking antimicrobial resistance acquisition, genome plasticity, and the emergence of enhanced virulence, persistence, and bacterial fitness. • Functional genomics and systems biology approaches identifying bacterial genes and regulatory networks required for colonization, host adaptation, invasion, persistence, and transmission. • Molecular mechanism implicated in capsule biosynthesis, biofilm formation, siderophore-mediated iron acquisition, metabolism, and other virulence-associated phenotypes contributing to pathogenicity. • Host innate and adaptive immune responses to K. pneumoniae infection, with particular - emphasis on immunocompromised and vulnerable populations. • Mechanisms of immune evasion, immune modulation, and host-pathogen interactions that promote bacterial survival, dissemination, inflammation, and tissue damage.• Plasmid biology, mobile genetic elements, and horizontal gene transfer driving the dissemination of carbapenemases, extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs), and other clinically relevant resistance determinants.• Within-host evolution and adaptation during chronic colonization, recurrent infection, antimicrobial exposure and treatment failure.• Genotype-to-phenotype studies correlating specific virulence and resistance factors with colonization capacity, transmission potential, disease severity, and clinical outbreaks. • Genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and molecular approaches for rapid detection, strain tracking, and surveillance of high-risk K. pneumoniae clones.• Reservoirs, transmission dynamics, and environmental persistence of K. pneumoniae in hospitals, long-term care facilities, and other high-risk healthcare environments. • Discovery and validation of therapeutic vulnerabilities, including anti-virulence approaches, adjunctive therapies, and novel antimicrobial strategies.A Topic Editor declares participation in research projects funded by Vaxdyn S.L. and Ab2 Therapeutics S.L. Topic editors: Eva Gato, Lorena López-Cerero Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85821/understanding-klebsiella-pneumoniae-pathogenicity-mechanisms-and-therapeutic-innovations-against-antimicrobial-resistance