The application of the CRISPR-Cas system in Klebsiella pneumoniae infections.

Klebsiella pneumoniae (Kp) is an important conditional pathogen that causes bacteremia, pneumonia, sepsis, urinary tract infections, and liver abscesses. The emergence of multidrug-resistant Kp, especially carbapenem-resistant Kp (CRKP), has become a major challenge to global public health. There is a need for early identification and diagnosis of Kp pathogens as well as precise treatment of Kp infections. The CRISPR-Cas (Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and associated Cas proteins) system is an adaptive immune mechanism for bacteria. Studies have shown that the presence of the CRISPR-Cas system is negatively correlated with drug resistance in Kp strains, and CRISPR-Cas system-based technologies have been developed for the detection, gene editing, the development of therapeutic drugs and vaccines in Kp infections. However, no review has been published on this area; therefore, this review describes the role of the CRISPR-Cas system in the development of antibiotic resistance in Kp, the application of CRISPR-Cas system-based technology in detection and gene editing, and the therapeutic potential of CRISPR-Cas system in Kp infections.