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Molecular Pathology of Infectious and Autoimmune Diseases – 2021

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There are more than 80 different types of autoimmune disorders targeting various organs and tissues. Although multiple factors contribute to the development of autoimmunity, the essential role of the infectious pathogens in the disease pathogenesis is confirmed. There are multiple mechanisms employed by a pathogen that can lead to autoimmunity. For example, the pathogen may have similarity to host self-antigens. This can lead to development of self-reactive T or B cells damaging organs and tissues and further perpetuating immune system activation. The pathogen may also lead to the autoimmunity using the epitope spreading mechanism. In this model the immune response to a persisting pathogen can cause damage to tissue releasing self-antigens. These antigens taken up by APCs, will initiate a self-specific immune response. Also, infection may lead autoimmunity through the processing and presentation of ‘cryptic antigens’ which are normally invisible to the immune system. The inflammation caused by infection can induce increased protease production and cytokine release triggering mechanisms of autoimmunity. The 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak has sparked a global healthcare crisis. This topic is also aimed to highlight current advances in the diagnosis and therapy of COVID-19, as well as to investigate the molecular mechanisms and pathology of the disease, in particular the problems of post-infection immunity, hemostasis disorders, etc. It will expand to cover the study of COVID-19 vaccine development/application and rehabilitation of patients. Significant advances were made in our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of infectious disease and autoimmunity, unraveling novel targets for diagnostics, treatment and prevention. Therefore, we would like to invite pioneer researchers in the areas of the Molecular Pathology of Infectious and Autoimmune Diseases to report the latest achievements related to understanding mechanisms of pathology and identification of novel therapeutic targets. In this special topic issue of BioNanoScience, pioneer researchers are invited to report their latest achievements in the field of molecular biology, immunology, cell biology, microbiology, virology, autoimmunity, etc. The topics of interest include, but are not limited to: - Molecular markers for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of infectious disease, with special focus on COVID-19 - Novel molecular tools for the infectious disease research - Molecular markers for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of the autoimmune disease - Novel molecular tools for the autoimmune research - Novel biomarkers for predisposition to the autoimmune disease

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