About this Research Topic
Description
The interface between spirochetes and the immune response is of significant importance to their pathogenesis and persistence. Evasion from the immune system leads to infections that present as Leptospirosis, Syphilis, Lyme Disease and Relapsing Fever and may lead to putative persistence and latency. Understanding the mechanisms involved in immune evasion will shed light not only on the host-pathogen factors involved in the process but also on how resistance to infection leads to protection.
Broad examples include spirochetal interaction with the immune system, spirochetal molecules involved in immune evasion and in immune activation, innate immune responses in the skin and other compartments, factors involved in spirochetal adhesion to the extracellular matrix, interaction of spirochetes with antigen presenting cells, in vitro, ex vivo or in vivo, spirochetal lipoproteins and immunity.
Specific examples include innate immunity to pathogenic spirochetes (T. pallidum, B. burgdorferi and Leptospira spp.), invasion and pathogenesis by L. interrogans, subversion and suppression of B cell responses by B. burgdorferi, role of antibody in clearance versus persistence of relapsing fever Borreliae, evasion of the complement system by B. burgdorferi, immune suppression by Ixodes tick saliva for effective transmission, adhesins and enzymes involved in dissemination of T. pallidum, spirochetal variable surface proteins in immune evasion, intravital imaging of pathogenic spirochetes (Borreliae and Leptospira) in host tissues, spirochete-host surface interactions.
Additional specific examples for B. burgdorferi include novel approaches to control infection within the vector and/or in mammal; tick innate immune defenses and interaction of Ixodes scapularis salivary immunomodulatory molecules with human immune cells, tick-innate immune defenses (from the perspective of the tick midgut), mouse models of infection and genetic basis for pathogenicity, diverse roles of outer surface protein C.
Additional specific examples for Leptospirosis include animal models of acute, sub-lethal and persistent infection; neutrophils and innate immune response; Toll-like receptor mediated B cell responses; markers of endothelial cell activation for disease severity in human leptospirosis, corticosteroid treatment of advanced human leptospirosis, and urinary biomarkers of chronic Leptospirosis.
Call for papers
In this research topic we welcome submissions on research articles and review and opinion pieces related to immunopathogenesis of spirochetal diseases, as well as early stage translation of these studies into biologics such as vaccines or other molecules and strategies to identify and combat these diseases. Such perspectives will fill a void of important information to the field.
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
