Allergic diseases have steadily increased worldwide. In fact, the prevalence as well as the severity of allergic diseases rose progressively during the last decades and, nowadays, affect a considerable percentage of the population worldwide. Asthma and allergies are a heterogeneous group of diseases with a complex pattern of disease endotypes (eosinophilic, neutrophilic, etc.), a complicated balance between immune tolerance and allergic sensitization, and a progression of allergic diseases. Moreover, the treatment of severe phenotypes is challenging since the therapeutic strategies available are not always able to control the disease and to induce optimal immune tolerance. To face these problems, it is imperative to gain a better understanding of the immune mechanisms underlying asthma and allergies and involved either in the elicitation of the immune response or in the induction of immunological tolerance. Nowadays, the development of high-throughput technologies has made possible the profiling of genomes, epigenomes, transcriptomes, microbiomes and metabolomes. These omics approaches will help implementing personalized medicine strategies for the treatment of severe allergic/asthmatic patients.
To make a personalized medicine approach possible in the field of allergies and asthma, it is necessary to obtain a deeper understanding of the cellular and molecular immune response of allergic diseases, thus further elucidating the consequences of loss of tolerance characteristic of these diseases. Moreover, it is important to understand the immune role of epithelial cells in tolerogenic sites such as the mucosa, to elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in mast cells activation and its regulation, and how Type 2 cells, such as ILC2 or Th2 cells, behave in these diseases.
The treatment of asthma and allergies are mainly based on corticosteroids, immunotherapy and biological drugs. Understanding how these therapeutic approaches modify the tolerogenic profile of patients seems essential for personalized medicine. This will help to identify biomarkers that allow accurate diagnosis, disease endotyping, patient stratification, treatment response follow-up and/or treatment efficacy. The application of different omics technologies and system biology will be key to achieve this goal, and the integration of different omics data, as well as of omics and non-omics data, will be essential to decipher the mechanisms of the immune tolerance.
This Research Topic aims at collecting the most recent studies dealing with the relevant cellular and molecular pathways associated to tolerance in allergy and asthma and their treatment, aiming to also find useful biomarkers for treatment response follow up.
We welcome Original Research, Review, and Methods articles covering, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Omics data analysis and systems biology applied to the immunological role of epithelial cells in the mucosa and their role in tolerance during allergy and asthma
• Analysis of the regulatory response induced by immunotherapy (cells, mediators, biological pathway, etc.) applied to clinical trials and experimental models of asthma and allergy (single cells omics approaches)
• Role of mast cells in allergy and asthma. Such as mediators and signaling pathways involved, interaction between mast cells and other immune cells, and the acquisition of a regulatory response
• Immunometabolism of immune cells in allergy and asthma
• The importance of clinical patient classification to obtain a clear picture of the tolerogenic profile associated with clinical features and, therefore, enabling reliable system biology models and novel therapeutic strategies to induce tolerant response
Allergic diseases have steadily increased worldwide. In fact, the prevalence as well as the severity of allergic diseases rose progressively during the last decades and, nowadays, affect a considerable percentage of the population worldwide. Asthma and allergies are a heterogeneous group of diseases with a complex pattern of disease endotypes (eosinophilic, neutrophilic, etc.), a complicated balance between immune tolerance and allergic sensitization, and a progression of allergic diseases. Moreover, the treatment of severe phenotypes is challenging since the therapeutic strategies available are not always able to control the disease and to induce optimal immune tolerance. To face these problems, it is imperative to gain a better understanding of the immune mechanisms underlying asthma and allergies and involved either in the elicitation of the immune response or in the induction of immunological tolerance. Nowadays, the development of high-throughput technologies has made possible the profiling of genomes, epigenomes, transcriptomes, microbiomes and metabolomes. These omics approaches will help implementing personalized medicine strategies for the treatment of severe allergic/asthmatic patients.
To make a personalized medicine approach possible in the field of allergies and asthma, it is necessary to obtain a deeper understanding of the cellular and molecular immune response of allergic diseases, thus further elucidating the consequences of loss of tolerance characteristic of these diseases. Moreover, it is important to understand the immune role of epithelial cells in tolerogenic sites such as the mucosa, to elucidate the molecular mechanisms involved in mast cells activation and its regulation, and how Type 2 cells, such as ILC2 or Th2 cells, behave in these diseases.
The treatment of asthma and allergies are mainly based on corticosteroids, immunotherapy and biological drugs. Understanding how these therapeutic approaches modify the tolerogenic profile of patients seems essential for personalized medicine. This will help to identify biomarkers that allow accurate diagnosis, disease endotyping, patient stratification, treatment response follow-up and/or treatment efficacy. The application of different omics technologies and system biology will be key to achieve this goal, and the integration of different omics data, as well as of omics and non-omics data, will be essential to decipher the mechanisms of the immune tolerance.
This Research Topic aims at collecting the most recent studies dealing with the relevant cellular and molecular pathways associated to tolerance in allergy and asthma and their treatment, aiming to also find useful biomarkers for treatment response follow up.
We welcome Original Research, Review, and Methods articles covering, but not limited to, the following topics:
• Omics data analysis and systems biology applied to the immunological role of epithelial cells in the mucosa and their role in tolerance during allergy and asthma
• Analysis of the regulatory response induced by immunotherapy (cells, mediators, biological pathway, etc.) applied to clinical trials and experimental models of asthma and allergy (single cells omics approaches)
• Role of mast cells in allergy and asthma. Such as mediators and signaling pathways involved, interaction between mast cells and other immune cells, and the acquisition of a regulatory response
• Immunometabolism of immune cells in allergy and asthma
• The importance of clinical patient classification to obtain a clear picture of the tolerogenic profile associated with clinical features and, therefore, enabling reliable system biology models and novel therapeutic strategies to induce tolerant response
