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Genetics and Epigenetics Factors Influencing the Pathogenicity of Infectious Diseases

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Genetics and Genomics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 October 2021) | Viewed by 2627

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Bologna, Italy
Interests: child neurology; genetics; biochemistry; mitochondria; mitochondrial diseases; in vitro models; animal models; gene therapy; pharmacological therapy

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Guest Editor
Mitochondrial Medicine Laboratory, Department of Medical Biotechnology and Translational Medicine, University of Milan, Via Vanvitelli 32, 20123 Milan, Italy
Interests: investigating mitochondrial dysfunction in genetic metabolic and aging related disease; production of cell (iPS and organoids) and animal models of neuromuscular disease; development of pharmacological treatment and gene therapy for mitochondrial disease
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The variability of infectious disease varies greatly among individuals, from asymptomatic to severely symptomatic cases, due to host and pathogen determinants. This has been recently confirmed by the spectra of the SARS–COVID-19 pandemics. Genomic variants and epigenomics factors have emerged as important players in the pathogenicity of infectious diseases by modulating pathogen replication efficiency, inflammatory and immune responses or influencing the development of complications. In this scenario, patients with rare genetic diseases, such as hereditary heart disease, chronic lung diseases, immune deficiencies, hematological diseases, neuromuscular and metabolic pathologies, could present a higher risk for developing severely symptomatic infection.

In this Special Issue, authors are invited to present novel data on a) genetic screening and epigenomic studies analyzing modifiers for infection susceptibility, clinical variability and response to treatment in the general population vs. the high-risk population; b) the impact of infections in the rare diseases population; c) cellular and biochemical studies analyzing the metabolic pathways involved in the mechanisms of infectious disease and their tissue specificity; d) the metabolic pathways responsible for the efficacy and safety of currently used infection treatments or those in the development pipeline.

The collection of studies will represent an important source of novel data for developing personalized precise medicine in the management and treatment of infectious diseases.

Dr. Caterina Garone
Dr. Dario Brunetti
Guest Editors

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

22 pages, 1660 KiB  
Article
Resilience in Long-Term Viral Infection: Genetic Determinants and Interactions
by Candice Brinkmeyer-Langford, Katia Amstalden, Kranti Konganti, Andrew Hillhouse, Koedi Lawley, Aracely Perez-Gomez, Colin R. Young, C. Jane Welsh and David W. Threadgill
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22(21), 11379; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms222111379 - 21 Oct 2021
Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1802
Abstract
Virus-induced neurological sequelae resulting from infection by Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) are used for studying human conditions ranging from epileptic seizures to demyelinating disease. Mouse strains are typically considered susceptible or resistant to TMEV infection based on viral persistence and extreme phenotypes, [...] Read more.
Virus-induced neurological sequelae resulting from infection by Theiler’s murine encephalomyelitis virus (TMEV) are used for studying human conditions ranging from epileptic seizures to demyelinating disease. Mouse strains are typically considered susceptible or resistant to TMEV infection based on viral persistence and extreme phenotypes, such as demyelination. We have identified a broader spectrum of phenotypic outcomes by infecting strains of the genetically diverse Collaborative Cross (CC) mouse resource. We evaluated the chronic-infection gene expression profiles of hippocampi and thoracic spinal cords for 19 CC strains in relation to phenotypic severity and TMEV persistence. Strains were clustered based on similar phenotypic profiles and TMEV levels at 90 days post-infection, and we categorized distinct TMEV response profiles. The three most common profiles included “resistant” and “susceptible,” as before, as well as a “resilient” TMEV response group which experienced both TMEV persistence and mild neurological phenotypes even at 90 days post-infection. Each profile had a distinct gene expression signature, allowing the identification of pathways and networks specific to each TMEV response group. CC founder haplotypes for genes involved in these pathways/networks revealed candidate response-specific alleles. These alleles demonstrated pleiotropy and epigenetic (miRNA) regulation in long-term TMEV infection, with particular relevance for resilient mouse strains. Full article
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