2025/04/08 by Julie Le Bris, Nathalie Chen, Adeline Supandy +2 · 1 voice · 25 citations
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Environmental Science · Immunology and Microbiology · #Bacteriophage #Bacteriophages and microbial interactions #Biology #Escherichia coli #Gene #Genetics #Genomics and Phylogenetic Studies #Klebsiella pneumoniae #Microbial infections and disease research #Microbiology #Pathogen #Phage therapy #Virology
paper · doi:10.1371/journal.ppat.1012971
published in PLoS Pathogens 21(4), e1012971 (Public Library of Science)
openalex publication_date 2025/04/08 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Klebsiella pneumoniae (KP) is a Gram-negative bacterium that commonly resides in the human gastrointestinal tract and can also act as an opportunistic pathogen and cause extra-intestinal infections. KP poses a global health threat because it causes both hospital- and community-acquired infections in immune-competent and immunocompromised hosts. These infections can be multidrug-resistant and/or hypervirulent, making KP infections difficult to treat and deadly. In the absence of effective treatments for recalcitrant KP infections, bacteriophage (phage) therapy is gaining attention as a promising alternative. In this review, we evaluate KP epidemiology and epitope diversity, discuss interactions between KP-targeting phages and their bacterial hosts from an eco-evolutionary perspective, and summarize recent efforts in phage therapy for treating KP infections. We also discuss novel approaches, including genetic engineering and machine learning, as initial steps toward developing KP-targeting phage therapy as a precision medicine approach for an emerging and dangerous pathogen.