Systems Biology-Based Platforms to Accelerate Research of Emerging Infectious Diseases

Abstract

Emerging infectious diseases (EIDs) pose a major threat to public health and security. Given the dynamic nature and significant impact of EIDs, the most effective way to prevent and protect against them is to develop vaccines in advance. Systems biology approaches provide an integrative way to understand the complex immune response to pathogens. They can lead to a greater understanding of EID pathogenesis and facilitate the evaluation of newly developed vaccine-induced immunity in a timely manner. In recent years, advances in high throughput technologies have enabled researchers to successfully apply systems biology methods to analyze immune responses to a variety of pathogens and vaccines. Despite recent advances, computational and biological challenges impede wider application of systems biology approaches. This review highlights recent advances in the fields of systems immunology and vaccinology, and presents ways that systems biology-based platforms can be applied to accelerate a deeper understanding of the molecular mechanisms of immunity against EIDs.

mRNA and miRNA profiling of Zika virus-infected human umbilical cord mesenchymal stem cells identifies miR-142-5p as an antiviral factor

“…During viral infections, miRNAs can be used either by viruses to promote virus replication, or by host cells to alter differential gene expression in response to viral infection [ 17 ]. Small RNA-sequencing represents a useful method to study genome-wide miRNA profiles [ 18 ], whereas high-throughput RNA-seq technology provides a fast, integrative and effective way to reveal the dynamic changes in host gene expression during virus infection [ 19 ]. Little is currently known about the role of miRNAs and miRNA-regulated networks in ZIKV-induced pathogenesis.…”

Insights into ZIKV-Mediated Innate Immune Responses in Human Dermal Fibroblasts and Epidermal Keratinocytes

“…Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus that has recently emerged as a pathogen causing significant public health concern. ZIKV infection can spread globally by the bite of infected Aedes species mosquitoes (Munjal et al, 2017;Oh et al, 2018). Typically, ZIKV infections are asymptomatic or present with relatively mild symptoms characterized by headaches, conjunctivitis, fever, rash, and arthralgia; however, infections in pregnant women can lead to cases of microcephaly, known as Guillain-Barre syndrome, and additional congenital abnormalities in infants (Calvet et al, 2016;Cao-Lormeau et al, 2016;Carteaux et al, 2016;Mlakar et al, 2016).…”

Prophylactic domain-based vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, causative agent of COVID-19 pandemic

“…First, protein is released to the extracellular space and its TLR agonists (i.e. RS09, and FlgC) can activate both TLRs 4 and 5, respectively (6). Second, protein is degraded by proteasomes to the small peptide fragments (7).…”

“…The empirical vaccinology against emerging and re-emerging infectious (EREI) pathogens such as SARS-CoV-2 might contend with several critical challenges, in large measure because of the paucity of the basic knowledge about their pathogenic mechanisms and behavior 5 . In contrast, the rational vaccinology through the bioinformatics, statistical meta-analyses (or mining) among the pathogen's genome/proteome, and comparative pathogenomic analyses might provide key detailed estimates for the vaccine design [6][7][8] .…”