Adaptive Immunity to Respiratory Pathogens

  • 7,561

    Total downloads

  • 24k

    Total views and downloads

Submit your idea

You will be redirected to our submission process.

Submit your manuscript summarySubmit your manuscript

About this Research Topic

Submission closed

Background

Adult human lungs inhale ~11,000 liters of air daily and are a direct interface between the systemic circulation and external environment. For this reason, the lungs play a critical role in the immune defense against inspired pathogens to ensure maintenance of gas exchange, while protecting the host. These responses integrate both the innate and adaptive arms tailored to the lung environment. Recent data has shown that healthy adult human lungs harbor distinct subsets of tissue resident memory CD4 TRM, CD8 TRM, BRM, and antibody secreting cells as integral components to immunity against respiratory pathogens; all aspects that have been successfully modeled in mice and involve cross talk with the local microenvironment. T cell immunity needs antigen presentation by monocytes and epithelial cells for establishing lung residency, while requiring help from epithelial and fibroblast cells to recruit antimicrobial neutrophils. Further, fibroblasts and stromal cells secrete soluble factors that may play key roles in maintaining the tertiary lymphoid structures within the lungs. Single cell sequencing is revealing an unforeseen heterogeneity in lung cell types and a more careful delineation of different adaptive-immune supportive functions for known and novel lung cell types with a greater resolution is warranted.

Although some aspects of how lung T and B cells confer protection are described, many other mechanisms remain undelineated and whether different subsets of lung T and B cells perform discrete non-overlapping functions is unclear. There is increasing evidence that vigorous adaptive antimicrobial responses can incite severe lung damage. The cellular and molecular factor/s aggravating or optimizing this delicate balance between protection and pathology need defining. Given the worsened outcomes of respiratory infections in the aged (arguably carrying more immune memory as a consequence of years lived), the factor/s leading to waning T and B cell immunity in the aged are uncertain. Whether aged hosts (naïve or previously immunized) respond to new infection or vaccinations with a comparable quantity and quality of immunity as younger counterparts is also understudied. Further, whether “original antigenic sin” (the loss of our ability to respond to new variants because of existing immunity to immunodominant epitopes) extends to T cell responses is unknown. All these topics highlight the gaps in our fundamental knowledge of lung immunity to pathogens that need
attention.

The ongoing pandemic has exposed several gaps in our knowledge about the design and mechanism of vaccines against respiratory pathogens. The new generation of mRNA vaccines induce strong protection against rapidly mutating virus, though the mechanisms leading to superior immunity are unclear. Alternative mucosal vaccine strategies induce robust local responses, including lung TRM and BRM cells. Studies elucidating effectiveness of these strategies in driving prompt frontline immunity are in its nascence. Vaccine designs with strong adjuvanticity (e.g. liposomes and RNA molecules) and focused on T cell responses that target internal conserved proteins of viruses are potent for sustained protection against rapidly mutating viruses. If and how local lung cells can be reprogrammed to support these vaccine-induced T (and B) cells is an emerging area that warrants more investigation. Finally, a major hurdle to combating respiratory infections is our inability to induce sustained long-term protection via vaccines. Although total antibody responses wane, memory B cells evolve and increase in frequency over time. Then, the reasons for immunity weakening over time is unclear. The waning of T cell immunity, particularly the “quality” of the memory T cell response, long after vaccination is also less studied.

For this issue, “Adaptive Immunity to Respiratory Pathogens”, we welcome submissions of manuscripts on any topics discussed above and mentioned below:

(1) Roles of innate immunity in influencing adaptive immunity to respiratory pathogens: roles of respiratory tract epithelial cells, lung structural cells (including, but not limited to, known and novel subsets of fibroblasts, vascular endothelial, lymphatic endothelial, mesenchymal cells) in influencing adaptive immunity
(2) Pathogenic impacts of potent innate and adaptive immune responses in the lung
(3) Maladaptive remodeling of lungs post recovery from respiratory infections
(4) Waning of vaccine- or infection-induced T- and B-cell immunity across the young and aged. How can we extend their stability?
(5) Vaccine design: targeting T- and B-cell responses and supporting cells, adjuvants and immunization routes
(6) Why are the aged disproportionately impacted by respiratory infections?
(7) Impact of repeated vaccine boosting on quality of immune responses

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

Topic editors

Frequently asked questions

  • Frontiers' Research Topics are collaborative hubs built around an emerging theme.Defined, managed, and led by renowned researchers, they bring communities together around a shared area of interest to stimulate collaboration and innovation.

    Unlike section journals, which serve established specialty communities, Research Topics are pioneer hubs, responding to the evolving scientific landscape and catering to new communities.

  • The goal of Frontiers' publishing program is to empower research communities to actively steer the course of scientific publishing. Our program was implemented as a three-part unit with fixed field journals, flexible specialty sections, and dynamically emerging Research Topics, connecting communities of different sizes and maturity.

    Research Topics originate from the scientific community. Many of our Research Topics are suggested by existing editorial board members who have identified critical challenges or areas of interest in their field.

  • As an editor, Research Topics will help you build your journal, as well as your community, around emerging, cutting-edge research. As research trailblazers, Research Topics attract high-quality submissions from leading experts all over the world.

    A thriving Research Topic can potentially evolve into a new specialty section if there is sustained interest and a growing community around it.

  • Each Research Topic must be approved by the specialty chief editor, and it falls under the editorial oversight of our editorial boards, supported by our in-house research integrity team. The same standards and rigorous peer review processes apply to articles published as part of a Research Topic as for any other article we publish.

    In 2023, 80% of the Research Topics we published were edited or co-edited by our editorial board members, who are already familiar with their journal's scope, ethos, and publishing model. All other topics are guest edited by leaders in their field, each vetted and formally approved by the specialty chief editor.

  • Publishing your article within a Research Topic with other related articles increases its discoverability and visibility, which can lead to more views, downloads, and citations. Research Topics grow dynamically as more published articles are added, causing frequent revisiting, and further visibility.

    As Research Topics are multidisciplinary, they are cross-listed in several fields and section journals – increasing your reach even more and giving you the chance to expand your network and collaborate with researchers in different fields, all focusing on expanding knowledge around the same important topic.

    Our larger Research Topics are also converted into ebooks and receive social media promotion from our digital marketing team.

     

  • Frontiers offers multiple article types, but it will depend on the field and section journals in which the Research Topic will be featured. The available article types for a Research Topic will appear in the drop-down menu during the submission process.

    Check available article types here 

  • Yes, we would love to hear your ideas for a topic. Most of our Research Topics are community-led and suggested by researchers in the field. Our in-house editorial team will contact you to talk about your idea and whether you’d like to edit the topic. If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. 

    Suggest your topic here 

  • A team of guest editors (called topic editors) lead their Research Topic. This editorial team oversees the entire process, from the initial topic proposal to calls for participation, the peer review, and final publications.

    The team may also include topic coordinators, who help the topic editors send calls for participation, liaise with topic editors on abstracts, and support contributing authors. In some cases, they can also be assigned as reviewers.

  • As a topic editor (TE), you will take the lead on all editorial decisions for the Research Topic, starting with defining its scope. This allows you to curate research around a topic that interests you, bring together different perspectives from leading researchers across different fields and shape the future of your field. 

     

    You will choose your team of co-editors, curate a list of potential authors, send calls for participation and oversee the peer review process, accepting or recommending rejection for each manuscript submitted.

  • As a topic editor, you're supported at every stage by our in-house team. You will be assigned a single point of contact to help you on both editorial and technical matters. Your topic is managed through our user-friendly online platform, and the peer review process is supported by our industry-first AI review assistant (AIRA).

  • If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. This provides you with valuable editorial experience, improving your ability to critically evaluate research articles and enhancing your understanding of the quality standards and requirements for scientific publishing, as well as the opportunity to discover new research in your field, and expand your professional network.

  • Yes, certificates can be issued on request. We are happy to provide a certificate for your contribution to editing a successful Research Topic.

  • Research Topics thrive on collaboration and their multi-disciplinary approach around emerging, cutting-edge themes, attract leading researchers from all over the world.

  • As a topic editor, you can set the timeline for your Research Topic, and we will work with you at your pace. Typically, Research Topics are online and open for submissions within a few weeks and remain open for participation for 6 – 12 months. Individual articles within a Research Topic are published as soon as they are ready.

    Find out more about our Research Topics

  • Our fee support program ensures that all articles that pass peer review, including those published in Research Topics, can benefit from open access – regardless of the author's field or funding situation.

    Authors and institutions with insufficient funding can apply for a discount on their publishing fees. A fee support application form is available on our website.

  • In line with our mission to promote healthy lives on a healthy planet, we do not provide printed materials. All our articles and ebooks are available under a CC-BY license, so you can share and print copies.

     

Impact

  • 24kTopic views
  • 16kArticle views
  • 7,561Article downloads
View impact