This Research Topic is the third volume of the “Biology of C-reactive Protein” Community Series. Please see Volume II here.”
C-reactive protein (CRP) is a component of the innate immune system. CRP is synthesized by the liver in response to pro-inflammatory cytokines and the biosynthesis of CRP increases dramatically during acute inflammation. CRP is considered to be a non-specific serum biomarker for inflammatory diseases. The functions of CRP during the inflammatory state, however, have not been defined yet.
It is known that CRP functions as a pattern recognition receptor. In vitro, CRP primarily binds to phosphocholine-containing substances. The effector function of CRP is to activate the complement system; CRP-phosphocholine complexes activate the classical pathway of complement. More recent studies have shown that CRP functions in alternate structural forms also; however, structurally altered CRP should also have a ligand-recognition function other than or in addition to the phosphocholine-recognition function. Likewise, structurally altered CRP may also have a different effector function. Both the recognition function and the effector function of structurally altered CRP remain to be established.
CRP was discovered almost 100 years ago and since then there have been two major questions about CRP:
1. How does it appear?
2. What does it do?
Also, CRP has been conserved from arthropods to humans. However, it remains unclear how CRP confers immunity to invertebrates against pathogenic molecules and cells.
CRP is a member of a ‘family of proteins’ called ‘pentraxins’. Another pentraxin, serum amyloid P-component (SAP) has also been implicated in inflammatory diseases including amyloidosis. Investigations on SAP are also useful to understand the biology of CRP. Likewise, studies on another pentraxin, PTX3, may also be useful to understand the biology of CRP.
Accordingly, the goal of this Research Topic is to cover the mechanisms of expression of the CRP gene, structure-function relationships of CRP across the animal kingdom, and functions of CRP and its homologs in infectious and non-infectious diseases and inflammation. A full understanding of the biology of CRP is essential to developing CRP-based therapeutic strategies to treat inflammatory diseases.
In this Research Topic, we will consider all submissions related to the understanding of the biology of CRP. We welcome Original Research, Review, Mini Review, Perspective, Method, Case Report, Clinical Trial, Opinion, and Commentary articles. Some key sub-topics of interest would be:
1. Functions of CRP in inflammatory diseases including, but not limited to, autoimmune, infectious, cardiovascular, and neurodegenerative diseases
2. Structure-function relationships of CRP
3. Complement activation by CRP complexes
4. CRP as a therapeutic and as a target for developing therapeutics
5. Serum CRP levels in the diagnosis and treatment of inflammatory diseases
6. CRP in COVID-19
7. Mechanisms of CRP gene expression under basal and inflammatory states
8. Evolutionary conservation of CRP and the primitive immune system
9. Homologs of CRP
Article types and fees
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
Brief Research Report
Case Report
Classification
Clinical Trial
Editorial
FAIR² Data
General Commentary
Hypothesis and Theory
Methods
Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.
Article types
This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:
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.
