Epigenetics of Autoimmune Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

We invite submissions for a Special Issue on the ‘Epigenetics of Autoimmune Diseases’ for the journal Epigenomes. Autoimmune disorders are chronic, debilitating conditions that afflict about 5–8% of the population, predominantly middle-aged women. There are approximately 100 diseases recognized to be of autoimmune origin. Unlike inherited genetic diseases such as sickle cell anemia caused by a single gene defect, autoimmune diseases result from a complex interaction between multiple genes. Genome-wide association studies have revealed that certain genes render individuals susceptible to developing specific autoimmune disorders. Whereas the manifestation of diverse autoimmune diseases in individuals indicates polyautoimmunity, familial autoimmunity is characterized by multiple autoimmune disorders in a single family. Regardless of the type of autoimmunity, the clinical manifestations follow variable asymptomatic periods, allowing an opportunity to predict autoimmunity. To date, the alleles at the most polymorphic region of the genome, the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) complex, and to some extent non-HLA associated immune response-related genes, have been implicated in susceptibility to developing autoimmune diseases. However, genes directly involved in the induction of autoimmune diseases remain largely obscure. Studies with monozygotic twin pairs revealed only a 25–40% concordance rate, indicating that in addition to causal genes, epigenetic mechanisms also contribute to the induction of autoimmune diseases.

Epigenetics is defined as the inheritable changes in gene expression without involving alterations in the DNA sequence. Methylation of CpG dinucleotides, posttranslational modifications of the histone tails by acetylation, and microRNAs are well-understood epigenetic mechanisms. Recent years have witnessed advancements in the role of these epigenetic mechanisms contributing to health and disease. Notably, there have been descriptions of the altered histone acetylation in animal models of autoimmune disorders, including lupus, type 1 diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. The current issue aims to gain an in-depth understanding of the role of diverse epigenetic mechanisms in a wide array of autoimmune diseases.

This Special Issue aims to address various aspects, including but not limited to:

1. Genome-wide gene expression profiles of organ-specific and multi-organ-directed autoimmune diseases;
2. Influence of antibiotic-mediated regulation of gene expression on autoimmune disorders;
3. The role of microRNAs and long non-coding RNAs in autoimmunity;
4. The impact of the enteric microbiota and their regulation in autoimmune diseases;
5. Application of epigenetic drugs to treat patients with autoimmune conditions.

We look forward to receiving your contributions in the form of original research articles, perspectives, and reviews. Meta-analysis of DNA sequence data without functional correlates is not encouraged. Additionally, purely methodological papers will not be entertained.

Dr. Sundararajan Jayaraman
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Epigenomes is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.