DNA Damage in Neurological Disorders: Etiological and Therapeutical Aspects

Dear Colleagues,

The accumulation of DNA lesions has been reported in aging and several neurodegenerative diseases of the central and the peripheral nervous system, such as Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, frontotemporal dementia, Huntington's disease, Down syndrome, autism, epilepsy, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, autism, and sensory and motor peripheral neuropathies.

Damage to the genome is induced by various physical, chemical, and biological agents, including oxidative stress, ultraviolet light, ionizing radiation, chemotherapeutic drugs, and inflammatory responses. Each human cell suffers from 10,000 single and 10-30 double-strand DNA breaks per day. Neurons are particularly vulnerable to DNA damage as, due to their post-mitotic nature, they lack cell cycle checkpoints. Furthermore, they are largely dependent on oxidative phosphorylation for energy production, resulting in the generation of reactive oxygen species. Interestingly, recent evidence has shown that DNA damage and subsequent repair are important pathways in the regulation of neuronal gene expression in physiological conditions, such as synaptic plasticity and neuronal activity. This suggests that a balance between DNA damage and repair is critical for neuronal physiology, while alterations to this equilibrium can contribute to neurodegeneration.

This Special Issue focuses on the sources and types of DNA damage, the different repair pathways, and the regulatory mechanisms that can contribute to neuronal physiology and pathology. We intend to emphasize the role of epigenetic, chromatin remodeling, and chromatin architecture mechanisms in the balance between DNA damage and repair in order to obtain an enhanced understanding of the etiology of neurological diseases. We also aim to present the potential application of DNA damage as a novel therapeutic target in aging-related neuropathies and neurodegeneration.

Dr. Tam Quach
Dr. Ilaria Palmisano
Dr. Anne-Marie Duchemin
Guest Editors

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• neurological disorders
• peripheral neuropathies
• DNA damage
• epigenetic dynamism
• 3D chromatin organization/remodeling
• therapeutic targets for DNA repair