Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Division of Rheumatology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA; Department of Neuroscience, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA.
Department of Microbiology and Immunology and the Division of Rheumatology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, USA; Azrieli Faculty of Medicine of Bar-Ilan University, Safed, Israel; Galilee Research Institute, Nahariya, Israel.
J Autoimmun. 2023 May;137:102999. doi: 10.1016/j.jaut.2023.102999. Epub 2023 Jan 29.
The rising incidence of autoimmune diseases is straining the healthcare system's capacity to care for patients with autoimmunity. To further compound this growing crisis, this rise occurs at a time when virulent infectious diseases exacerbate pre-existing conditions. Despite some novel targeted therapies introduced over the preceding decades, current treatment strategies must often fall back on non-specific immunosuppression, inflicting its own toll on patient morbidity. To improve patient care, we must re-double our efforts to understand and target the fundamental mechanisms of autoimmune disease initiation and progression. Technologic innovations have recently accelerated our ability to discover key components of the processes leading to loss of tolerance and propagation of self-tissue damage in autoimmune conditions. The special issue "Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Autoimmunity" highlights many of these findings through primary research and review articles which detail advances in genetics, molecular processes, cellular functions, and host-pathogen interactions. Discussion of topics ranging from non-coding RNA and the complement cascade to T-cell aging and the microbiome uncovers exciting avenues for basic and clinical investigation. Importantly, the issue seeks to focus attention on both established and emerging mechanisms of autoimmunity to ultimately help improve the specificity, safety, and efficacy of treatments for this group of challenging immune disorders.
自身免疫性疾病发病率的上升正在给医疗保健系统的患者护理能力带来压力。更糟糕的是，这种上升发生在烈性传染病使原有疾病恶化的时候。尽管过去几十年引入了一些新的靶向治疗方法，但目前的治疗策略往往不得不依赖非特异性免疫抑制，这也给患者的发病率带来了自身的负担。为了改善患者的护理，我们必须加倍努力，了解和针对自身免疫性疾病发病和进展的基本机制。技术创新最近加速了我们发现导致自身免疫性疾病中耐受丧失和自身组织损伤传播过程中关键成分的能力。本期特刊“自身免疫的细胞和分子机制”通过主要研究和综述文章突出了其中的许多发现，这些文章详细介绍了遗传学、分子过程、细胞功能和宿主-病原体相互作用方面的进展。从非编码 RNA 和补体级联到 T 细胞衰老和微生物组的讨论揭示了基础和临床研究的令人兴奋的途径。重要的是，该特刊旨在关注自身免疫的既定和新兴机制，最终帮助提高治疗这群具有挑战性的免疫紊乱的特异性、安全性和疗效。
