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Molecular Insights into Rare Diseases: From Pathogenesis to Innovative Therapies

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 409

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Guest Editor
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Collegium Medicum, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski University, Wóycickiego 1/3, 01-938 Warsaw, Poland
Interests: Wilson’s disease; copper toxicity; iron toxicity; oxidative stress; inflammation; neurodegeneration; chronobiology; psychoneuroimmunology; cancer immunity
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Rare diseases are life-threatening or chronically disabling diseases that affect 1 in 2,000 people or less, and they are estimated to number from 7,000 to 9,000. Although each rare disease has a low incidence, their vast number means that 6 to 8 percent of the population suffers from them.

Rare diseases are characterized by a wide complexity and variety of clinical manifestations—they can include malformations, intellectual disabilities and neurological, dermatological, ophthalmological, cardiological, nephrological, hepatic, endocrine and other diseases. Rare diseases also include some rare cancers, autoimmune diseases and infectious diseases.

For many years, there was a misconception that there was no need to make a diagnosis for diseases for which there was currently no treatment. Currently, many research groups around the world conduct numerous scientific and clinical studies aimed at understanding the pathogenesis of individual diseases, which allows for improvements to diagnostic and therapeutic methods, including gene therapies, molecularly targeted treatment, CRISPR-mediated DNA editing and others.

Due to the large scale of the problem posed by rare diseases and disorders, as well as the invaluable importance of molecular studies for a better understanding of their pathogenesis, which allows for the improvement of diagnostic and treatment methods, we have decided to gather together publications on the above issues in our journal. We invite you to submit manuscripts containing information that will contribute to further improving understanding of the pathogenesis, diagnosis and treatment of rare diseases.

Prof. Dr. Grażyna Gromadzka
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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Keywords

  • rare diseases
  • orphan disorders
  • orphan drugs
  • gene therapy
  • precision medicine
  • biomarkers in rare diseases
  • gene therapy
  • CRISPR therapy
  • CRISPR-mediated DNA editing
  • CRISPR technology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

18 pages, 1666 KiB  
Review
Molecular Insights into Neurological Regression with a Focus on Rett Syndrome—A Narrative Review
by Jatinder Singh and Paramala Santosh
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(11), 5361; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms26115361 - 3 Jun 2025
Viewed by 296
Abstract
Rett syndrome (RTT) is a multisystem neurological disorder. Pathogenic changes in the MECP2 gene that codes for methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) in RTT lead to a loss of previously established motor and cognitive skills. Unravelling the mechanisms of neurological regression in RTT is [...] Read more.
Rett syndrome (RTT) is a multisystem neurological disorder. Pathogenic changes in the MECP2 gene that codes for methyl-CpG-binding protein 2 (MeCP2) in RTT lead to a loss of previously established motor and cognitive skills. Unravelling the mechanisms of neurological regression in RTT is complex, due to multiple components of the neural epigenome being affected. Most evidence has primarily focused on deciphering the complexity of transcriptional machinery at the molecular level. Little attention has been paid to how epigenetic changes across the neural epigenome in RTT lead to neurological regression. In this narrative review, we examine how pathogenic changes in MECP2 can disrupt the balance of the RTT neural epigenome and lead to neurological regression. Environmental and genetic factors can disturb the balance of the neural epigenome in RTT, modifying the onset of neurological regression. Methylation changes across the RTT neural epigenome and the consequent genotoxic stress cause neurons to regress into a senescent state. These changes influence the brain as it matures and lead to the emergence of specific symptoms at different developmental periods. Future work could focus on epidrugs or epi-editing approaches that may theoretically help to restore the epigenetic imbalance and thereby minimise the impact of genotoxic stress on the RTT neural epigenome. Full article
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