Rheumatoid Arthritis: From Molecular Basis to 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: 31 January 2025 | Viewed by 20
Special Issue Editor
Interests: regulation of the humoral immune response; the “crosstalk” between receptors expressed on B lymphocytes; B cell signaling; autoimmunity; rheumatoid arthritis; cooperation between regulatory B cells and T cell subsets
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic systemic autoimmune disorder characterized by persistent inflammation of synovial joints, resulting in progressive joint destruction and bone resorption and thus leading to disability.
Despite significant advances in rheumatoid research over the past decade, we still do not fully understand the cause of the disease, and we lack knowledge about how to cure or prevent RA.
At the molecular level, the pathogenesis of RA is driven by a dysregulated immune response leading to the abnormal activation of B and T cells and the production of autoantibodies and proinflammatory cytokines such as TNF and IL-6.
TNF inhibitors and IL-6 receptor antagonists have significantly improved clinical outcomes by specifically targeting key inflammatory pathways. More recently, the development of Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors has offered an oral alternative with broad immunomodulatory effects. Despite these advancements, challenges remain in achieving sustained remission and managing treatment-related adverse effects.
Emerging molecular targets in the treatment of RA include CD40 and the CD40 ligand, programmed death protein 1 (PD-1), and granulocyte–macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF). Multiple signal transduction pathways are involved in the disease progression of rheumatoid arthritis, and abnormal signals are often targets for drug discovery. Thus, improved knowledge of intracellular signaling pathways and immunometabolic changes in RA will complement current precision medicine strategies, especially for patients with difficult-to-treat RA, and more specifically, those with multidrug resistance disease.
This Special Issue, “Rheumatoid Arthritis: From Molecular Basis to Therapies”, seeks to collate a selection of original and review articles on identifying novel molecular targets in the treatment of RA.
Prof. Dr. Gabriella Sármay
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- rheumatoid arthritis
- autoimmune
- intracellular signaling pathways
- targeted therapy
- inflammation
- immunometabolic reprogramming
- CD40
- CD40 ligand
- GM-CSF
- PD-1
- inhibitors
