Carbohydrate-based vaccine engineering (CVE): An integrated strategy against bacterial infections

Carbohydrate-based vaccines are an effective means for combating bacterial infections, particularly in the face of rising antibiotic resistance. This perspective provides an overview of carbohydrate vaccine against bacterial infections, from the earliest polysaccharide formulations to the latest synthetic constructs, and highlights the full engineering continuum encompassing carbohydrate antigen production, epitope mapping, conjugation chemistry, formulation, preclinical and clinical evaluation, and regulatory approval. By introducing the integrative framework of carbohydrate-based vaccine engineering (CVE), a unified perspective is provided to support both the optimization of current vaccine platforms and the rational design of next-generation glycoconjugate vaccines.