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REVIEW article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Infectious Agents and Disease
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1549343
This article is part of the Research Topic Advances in Understanding Bacterial Immunosuppressive Mechanisms for the Development of Novel Vaccines and Therapeutic Strategies View all articles
The Immune Response to Francisella tularensis
Provisionally accepted- 1 United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, Colorado, United States
- 2 Dr RV House LLC, Harper's Ferry, United States
- 3 Appili Therapeutics Inc, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
Francisella tularensis (Ft) is a Gram negative intracellular bacterial pathogen, commonly transmitted via arthropod bites, but is most lethal when contracted via inhalation. The nature of a Gram-negative intracellular pathogen presents unique challenges to the mammalian immune response, unlike more common viral pathogens and extracellular bacterial pathogens. The current literature on Ft involves numerous variables, including the use of differing research strains and variation in animal models. This review aims to consolidate much of the recent literature on Ft to suggest promising research to better understand the complex immune response to this bacterium.
Keywords: Francisella tularensis, Tularemia, Adaptive Immunity, innate immunity, correlates of protection, Vaccine
Received: 20 Dec 2024; Accepted: 24 Mar 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Barthels, House and Gelhaus. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
H. Carl Gelhaus, Appili Therapeutics Inc, Halifax, B3H 0A8, Nova Scotia, Canada
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.