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Allergy, Immunology, and Pathogen Epigenetics

Section information

Section Editor: Georges Herbein

Associate Editor: Kari Nadeau

This section publishes high-quality and innovative research generated from basic science, animal and translational clinical studies that focus on epigenetic regulation in the induction or control of allergic disease, asthma and other immune responses and on epigenetic mechanisms involved in infectious diseases. Research on the application of epigenetic analyses to the prediction, diagnosis, and treatment of allergic disease, inflammation and infectious diseases are particularly welcomed. These may also include reports on the interface between environmental exposures and epigenetic changes when important to allergy, asthma, immunology, inflammation and infectious diseases. The studies on the epigenetic regulation of viral and bacterial infections are welcomed. Research on epigenetics of virus-induced cancers is also in the scope of this section. Laboratory studies that report on potentially new epigenetic targets related to allergy, asthma, immunology, inflammation and infectious diseases will also be considered.

  1. Mesenchymal fibroblasts are ubiquitous cells that maintain the extracellular matrix of organs. Within the lung, airway and parenchymal fibroblasts are crucial for lung development and are altered with disease,...

    Authors: Rachel L. Clifford, Chen Xi Yang, Nick Fishbane, Jamie Patel, Julia L. MacIsaac, Lisa M. McEwen, Sean T. May, Marcos Castellanos-Uribe, Parameswaran Nair, Ma’en Obeidat, Michael S. Kobor, Alan J. Knox and Tillie-Louise Hackett
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2020 12:145
    Content type: Research Published on:

  2. The genetic risk associated with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) includes genes regulating DNA methylation, one of the hallmarks of epigenetic re-programing, as well as many T-cell genes, with a strong MHC associati...

    Authors: R. Pitaksalee, A. N. Burska, S. Ajaib, J. Rogers, R. Parmar, K. Mydlova, X. Xie, A. Droop, J. S. Nijjar, P. Chambers, P. Emery, R. Hodgett, I. B. McInnes and F. Ponchel
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2020 12:54
    Content type: Research Published on:

  3. The HIV-1 proviral genome harbors multiple CpG islands (CpGIs), both in the promoter and intragenic regions. DNA methylation in the promoter region has been shown to be heavily involved in HIV-1 latency regula...

    Authors: Sam Kint, Wim Trypsteen, Ward De Spiegelaere, Eva Malatinkova, Sabine Kinloch-de Loes, Tim De Meyer, Wim Van Criekinge and Linos Vandekerckhove
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2020 12:36
    Content type: Research Published on:

  4. Systemic sclerosis (SSc) is a rare autoimmune fibrosing disease with an incompletely understood genetic and non-genetic etiology. Defining its etiology is important to allow the development of effective predic...

    Authors: Paula S. Ramos, Kip D. Zimmerman, Sandra Haddad, Carl D. Langefeld, Thomas A. Medsger Jr and Carol A. Feghali-Bostwick
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2019 11:58
    Content type: Research Published on:

  5. Epigenetic pathways play a pivotal role in the development and function of the immune system. Over the last decade, a growing body of studies has been published out seeking to explain a correlation between epi...

    Authors: Roberta Mazzone, Clemens Zwergel, Marco Artico, Samanta Taurone, Massimo Ralli, Antonio Greco and Antonello Mai
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2019 11:34
    Content type: Review Published on:

  6. Lung macrophages are major participants in the pulmonary innate immune response. In the cystic fibrosis (CF) lung, the inability of lung macrophages to successfully regulate the exaggerated inflammatory respon...

    Authors: Youdinghuan Chen, David A. Armstrong, Lucas A. Salas, Haley F. Hazlett, Amanda B. Nymon, John A. Dessaint, Daniel S. Aridgides, Diane L. Mellinger, Xiaoying Liu, Brock C. Christensen and Alix Ashare
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2018 10:152
    Content type: Research Published on:

  7. Kawasaki disease (KD) is a prevalent pediatric disease worldwide and can cause coronary artery aneurysm as a severe complication. Typically, DNA methylation is thought to repress the expression of nearby genes...

    Authors: Lien-Hung Huang, Ho-Chang Kuo, Cheng-Tsung Pan, Yeong-Shin Lin, Ying-Hsien Huang and Sung-Chou Li
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2018 10:135
    Content type: Research Published on:

  8. Urinary bladder cancer is a common malignancy worldwide. Environmental factors and chronic inflammation are correlated with the disease risk. Diagnosis is performed by transurethral resection of the bladder, a...

    Authors: Emma Ahlén Bergman, Ciputra Adijaya Hartana, Markus Johansson, Ludvig B. Linton, Sofia Berglund, Martin Hyllienmark, Christian Lundgren, Benny Holmström, Karin Palmqvist, Johan Hansson, Farhood Alamdari, Ylva Huge, Firas Aljabery, Katrine Riklund, Malin E. Winerdal, David Krantz…
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2018 10:102
    Content type: Research Published on:

  9. Sepsis represents the utmost severe consequence of infection, involving a dysregulated and self-damaging immune response of the host. While different environmental exposures like chronic stress or malnutrition...

    Authors: Katharina Bomans, Judith Schenz, Sandra Tamulyte, Dominik Schaack, Markus Alexander Weigand and Florian Uhle
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2018 10:89
    Content type: Research Published on:

  10. Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (cSCC) occurs 65–200 times more in immunosuppressed organ transplant patients than in the general population. T cells, which are targeted by the given immunosuppressive drugs,...

    Authors: Fleur S. Peters, Annemiek M. A. Peeters, Pooja R. Mandaviya, Joyce B. J. van Meurs, Leo J. Hofland, Jacqueline van de Wetering, Michiel G. H. Betjes, Carla C. Baan and Karin Boer
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2018 10:81
    Content type: Research Published on:

  11. IgE-mediated sensitization may be epigenetically programmed in utero, but early childhood environment may further alter complex traits and disease phenotypes through epigenetic plasticity. However, the epigeno...

    Authors: Cheng Peng, Andres Cardenas, Sheryl L. Rifas-Shiman, Marie-France Hivert, Diane R. Gold, Thomas A. Platts-Mills, Xihong Lin, Emily Oken, Andrea A. Baccarelli, Augusto A. Litonjua and Dawn L. DeMeo
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2018 10:55
    Content type: Research Published on:

  12. The prevalence of respiratory allergy in children is increasing. Epigenetic DNA methylation changes are plausible underlying molecular mechanisms.

    Authors: Sabine A. S. Langie, Matthieu Moisse, Katarzyna Szarc vel Szic, Ellen Van Der Plas, Gudrun Koppen, Sofie De Prins, Tijs Louwies, Vera Nelen, Guy Van Camp, Diether Lambrechts, Greet Schoeters, Wim Vanden Berghe and Patrick De Boever
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2018 10:50
    Content type: Research Published on:

  13. Integration of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) into the host genome causes global disruption of the chromatin environment. The abundance level of various chromatin-modifying enzymes produces these ...

    Authors: Roberta Nicoleta Bogoi, Alicia de Pablo, Eulalia Valencia, Luz Martín-Carbonero, Victoria Moreno, Helem Haydee Vilchez-Rueda, Victor Asensi, Rosa Rodriguez, Victor Toledano and Berta Rodés
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2018 10:20
    Content type: Research Published on:

  15. AXL is one of the TAM (TYRO3, AXL and MERTK) receptor tyrosine kinases and may affect numerous immune-related health conditions. However, the role for AXL in asthma, including its epig...

    Authors: Lu Gao, Joshua Millstein, Kimberly D. Siegmund, Louis Dubeau, Rachel Maguire, Frank D. Gilliland, Susan K. Murphy, Cathrine Hoyo and Carrie V. Breton
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2017 9:121
    Content type: Research Published on:

  16. Asthma heritability has only been partially explained by genetic variants and is known to be sensitive to environmental factors, implicating epigenetic modifications such as DNA methylation in its pathogenesis.

    Authors: Ryan Arathimos, Matthew Suderman, Gemma C. Sharp, Kimberley Burrows, Raquel Granell, Kate Tilling, Tom R. Gaunt, John Henderson, Susan Ring, Rebecca C. Richmond and Caroline L. Relton
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2017 9:112
    Content type: Research Published on:

  17. Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease that is characterized by lymphocytic infiltration and overproduction of autoantibodies, leading to significant morbidity and mortality. However, the ...

    Authors: Wei Liao, Mengying Li, Haijing Wu, Sujie Jia, Nu Zhang, Yong Dai, Ming Zhao and Qianjin Lu
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2017 9:104
    Content type: Research Published on:

  19. Although many genetic variants have been associated with multiple sclerosis (MS) risk, they do not explain all the disease risk and there remains uncertainty as to how these variants contribute to disease. DNA...

    Authors: Vicki E. Maltby, Rodney A. Lea, Katherine A. Sanders, Nicole White, Miles C. Benton, Rodney J. Scott and Jeannette Lechner-Scott
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2017 9:71
    Content type: Research Published on:

  20. Physical activity is associated with improvement in lung function; however, pollution exposure during physical activity can lead to a transient reduction in lung function. This paradoxical relationship may be ...

    Authors: Stephanie Lovinsky-Desir, Kyung Hwa Jung, Jacqueline R. Jezioro, David Z. Torrone, Mariangels de Planell-Saguer, Beizhan Yan, Frederica P. Perera, Andrew G. Rundle, Matthew S. Perzanowski, Steven N. Chillrud and Rachel L. Miller
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2017 9:65
    Content type: Research Published on:

  21. Numerous pulmonary diseases manifest with upper lobe predominance including cystic fibrosis, smoking-related chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, and tuberculosis. Zonal hypoxia, characteristic of these pulm...

    Authors: David A. Armstrong, Amanda B. Nymon, Carol S. Ringelberg, Corina Lesseur, Haley F. Hazlett, Louisa Howard, Carmen J. Marsit and Alix Ashare
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2017 9:56
    Content type: Research Published on:

  22. Allergic rhinitis is a common chronic disorder characterized by immunoglobulin E-mediated inflammation. To identify new genes associated with this trait, we performed genome- and epigenome-wide association stu...

    Authors: Andréanne Morin, Michel Laviolette, Tomi Pastinen, Louis-Philippe Boulet and Catherine Laprise
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2017 9:3
    Content type: Letter to the Editor Published on:

  23. Up-regulated cyclic adenosine 5'-monophosphate response element modulator α (CREMα) which can inhibit IL-2 and induce IL-17A in T cells plays a critical role in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus...

    Authors: Qing Zhang, Shu Ding, Huilin Zhang, Hai Long, Haijing Wu, Ming Zhao, Vera Chan, Chak-Sing Lau and Qianjin Lu
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2016 8:126
    Content type: Research Published on:

  24. The role of DNA methylation in the regulation of the anti-donor-directed immune response after organ transplantation is unknown. Here, we studied the methylation of two mediators of the immune response: the pr...

    Authors: Karin Boer, L. Elly A. de Wit, Fleur S. Peters, Dennis A. Hesselink, Leo J. Hofland, Michiel G. H. Betjes, Caspar W. N. Looman and Carla C. Baan
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2016 8:116
    Content type: Research Published on:

  25. Neonates have dampened expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines and difficulty clearing pathogens. This makes them uniquely susceptible to infections, but the factors regulating neonatal-specific immune respon...

    Authors: Jennifer R. Bermick, Nathalie J. Lambrecht, Aaron D. denDekker, Steven L. Kunkel, Nicholas W. Lukacs, Cory M. Hogaboam and Matthew A. Schaller
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2016 8:99
    Content type: Research Published on:

  26. Anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic autoantibody (ANCA)-associated vasculitis (AAV) is a systemic autoimmune disease characterized by destructive vascular inflammation. Two prominent ANCA autoantigens are myeloperoxid...

    Authors: Jiajin Yang, Heng Ge, Caroline J. Poulton, Susan L. Hogan, Yichun Hu, Britta E. Jones, Candace D. Henderson, Elizabeth A. McInnis, William F. Pendergraft III, J. Charles Jennette, Ronald J. Falk and Dominic J. Ciavatta
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2016 8:85
    Content type: Research Published on:

  27. Crohn’s disease (CD) is a chronic inflammatory disorder belonging to the inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). CD affects distinct parts of the gastrointestinal tract, leading to symptoms including diarrhea, feve...

    Authors: Andrew Y. F. Li Yim, Nicolette W. Duijvis, Jing Zhao, Wouter J. de Jonge, Geert R. A. M. D’Haens, Marcel M. A. M. Mannens, Adri N. P. M. Mul, Anje A. te Velde and Peter Henneman
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2016 8:65
    Content type: Research Published on:

  28. Fibrosis of the intestine is a common and poorly understood complication of Crohn’s disease (CD) characterized by excessive deposition of extracellular matrix and accompanied by narrowing and obstruction of th...

    Authors: Tammy Sadler, Jeffrey M. Bhasin, Yaomin Xu, Jill Barnholz-Sloan, Yanwen Chen, Angela H. Ting and Eleni Stylianou
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2016 8:30
    Content type: Research Published on:

  29. Human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) latency represents the major barrier to virus eradication in infected individuals because cells harboring latent HIV-1 provirus are not affected by current antiretro...

    Authors: Kateřina Trejbalová, Denisa Kovářová, Jana Blažková, Ladislav Machala, David Jilich, Jan Weber, Dana Kučerová, Ondřej Vencálek, Ivan Hirsch and Jiří Hejnar
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2016 8:19
    Content type: Research Published on:

  30. The autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has a modified epigenome with modified tri-methylation of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4me3) at specific loci across the genome. H3K4me3 is a canonical chro...

    Authors: Zhe Zhang, Lihua Shi, Noor Dawany, Judith Kelsen, Michelle A. Petri and Kathleen E. Sullivan
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2016 8:14
    Content type: Research Published on:

  31. Asthma is the most common chronic inflammatory disorder in children. The aetiology of asthma pathology is complex and highly heterogeneous, involving the interplay between genetic and environmental risk factor...

    Authors: Therese M. Murphy, Chloe C. Y. Wong, Louise Arseneault, Joe Burrage, Ruby Macdonald, Eilis Hannon, Helen L. Fisher, Antony Ambler, Terrie E. Moffitt, Avshalom Caspi and Jonathan Mill
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2015 7:130
    Content type: Research Published on:

  32. Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPAR-γ) has been demonstrated to be involved in anti-inflammatory reactions, but its role in acute-on-chronic hepatitis B liver failure (ACHBLF) is unclear. Th...

    Authors: Ze-Hua Zhao, Yu-Chen Fan, Qi Zhao, Cheng-Yun Dou, Xiang-Fen Ji, Jing Zhao, Shuai Gao, Xin-You Li and Kai Wang
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2015 7:115
    Content type: Research Published on:

  33. Genome-wide DNA methylation (DNAm) studies have proven extremely useful to understand human hematopoiesis. Due to their active DNA content, nucleated red blood cells (nRBCs) contribute to epigenetic and transc...

    Authors: Olivia M. de Goede, Hamid R. Razzaghian, E. Magda Price, Meaghan J. Jones, Michael S. Kobor, Wendy P. Robinson and Pascal M. Lavoie
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2015 7:95
    Content type: Research Published on:

  34. Interleukin 1 and its receptors are associated with allergic diseases such as asthma. In the present study, we measured DNA methylation at the IL1R1 and IL1R2 gene loci and assessed for associations with asthma-r...

    Authors: Valérie Gagné-Ouellet, Simon-Pierre Guay, Anne-Marie Boucher-Lafleur, Luigi Bouchard and Catherine Laprise
    Citation: Clinical Epigenetics 2015 7:80
    Content type: Letter to the Editor Published on:

Clinical Epigenetics

ISSN: 1868-7083

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