Integrated Omics Approaches To Infectious Diseases

This book examines applications of multi-omics approaches for understanding disease etiology, pathogenesis, host-pathogen interactions. It also analyzes the genetics, immunological and metabolic mechanisms underlying the infections. The book also explores genomics, transcriptomics, translational-omics, and metabolomics approaches to understand the pathogenesis and identify potential drug targets. It reviews the role of epigenetic reprogramming in shaping the host-pathogen interactions and presents bioinformatics application in the identification of drug targets. Further, it examines the potential applications of RNA sequencing and non-coding RNA profiling to identify the pathogenesis. Lastly, it offers the current challenges, technological advances, and prospects of using multi-omics technologies in infectious biology.

In an ever-growing worldwide population, human infectious diseases are an increasingly serious problem for public health. In particular, more than a million deaths and millions of infectious disease cases per year caused by fungal pathogens have been reported globally in recent years. Hence, more investments must be put into fungal research to overcome the problem. The opportunistic pathogen Candida albicans and the airborne Aspergillus fumigatus are the two most prevalent fungal pathogens causing serious issues in medical care units. Despite the recent advances in fungal research, there is little knowledge about the role of fungal metabolism in developing the infection when coexisting within the human body with microbial community members in different organs. This dissertation applied computational tools, and implemented systems biology approaches to uncover key factors in the colonization of the pathogens, especially C. albicans and A. fumigatus, from a systems biology perspective and unseen by wet-lab experiments alone. Next to multi-omics data analysis, a major effort was put into genome-scale metabolic models (GEMs) generation and analysis as a promising approach to shed light on the role of metabolism in developing the infection. In brief, this thesis sheds light on key factors leading to the inhibition or promotion of fungal growth. This especially includes the first available GEM reconstruction of C. albicans to theoretically study the intricate interaction of the fungus with the human host and the microbial community members. Lastly, a platform of 252 A. fumigatus GEMs at the strain resolution was generated. It revealed the phenotypic diversity of A. fumigatus strains isolated from different hospitals and farms in Germany and explained the contribution of the fungus to the shaping of the metabolic landscape of the lung microbiome in a favorable manner for fungal growth.

Technologies collectively called omics enable simultaneous measurement of an enormous number of biomolecules; for example, genomics investigates thousands of DNA sequences, and proteomics examines large numbers of proteins. Scientists are using these technologies to develop innovative tests to detect disease and to predict a patient's likelihood of responding to specific drugs. Following a recent case involving premature use of omics-based tests in cancer clinical trials at Duke University, the NCI requested that the IOM establish a committee to recommend ways to strengthen omics-based test development and evaluation. This report identifies best practices to enhance development, evaluation, and translation of omics-based tests while simultaneously reinforcing steps to ensure that these tests are appropriately assessed for scientific validity before they are used to guide patient treatment in clinical trials.

This multidisciplinary book is at the crossroads between two major scientific fields of the 21st century: evolutionary biology and infectious diseases. The genomic revolution has upset modern biology and has revolutionized our approach to ancient disciplines such as evolutionary studies. In particular, this revolution is profoundly changing our view on genetically driven human phenotypic diversity, and this is especially true in disease genetic susceptibility. Infectious diseases are indisputably the major challenge of medicine. When looking globally, they are the number one killer of humans and therefore the main selective pressure exerted on our species. Even in industrial countries, infectious diseases are now far less under control than 20 years ago. The first part of this book covers the main features and applications of modern technologies in the study of infectious diseases. The second part provides detailed information on a number of the key infectious diseases such as malaria, SARS, avian flu, HIV, tuberculosis, nosocomial infections and a few other pathogens that will be taken as examples to illustrate the power of modern technologies and the value of evolutionary approaches. Takes an integrated approach to infectious diseases Includes contributions from leading authorities Provides the latest developments in the field

There are several reasons to be interested in infectious disease informatics. First, it is of practical significance to understand how the technology revolution has been reshaping infectious disease research and management, as rapid advances in geno- associated technologies have changed the very nature of the questions we can ask. Second, the emerging evidence has confirmed that the application of information technologies in healthcare enhances our ability to deal with infectious diseases. Finally, the implementation of electronic health records has created new and exciting opportunities for secure, reliable and ethically sound clinical decision support and biosurveillance guided by the genomics of pathogens with epidemic potential. This volume addresses the growing need for the critical overview of recent developments in microbial genomics and biomedical informatics relevant to the control of infectious diseases. This field is rapidly expanding, and attracts a wide audience of clinicians, public health professionals, biomedical researchers and computer scientists who are fascinated by the complex puzzle of infectious disease. This book takes a multidisciplinary approach with a calculated move away from the traditional health informatics topics of computerized protocols for antibiotic p- scribing and pathology testing. Instead authors invite you to explore the emerging frontiers of bioinformatics-guided pathogen profiling, the system microbiolo- enabled intelligent design of new drugs and vaccines, and new ways of real-time biosurveillance and hospital infection control. Throughout the book, references are made to different products supplied by public sources and commercial vendors, but this is not an endorsement of these products or vendors.

Breast cancer is the most common cancer in females that accounts for highest cancer specific deaths worldwide. In the last few decades research has proven that breast cancer can be treated if diagnosed at early stages and proper therapeutic strategy is adopted. Omics-based recent approaches have unveiled the molecular mechanism behind the breast tumorigenesis and aid in identification of next-generation molecular markers for early diagnosis, prognosis and even the effective targeted therapy. Significant development has taken place in the field of omics in breast cancer in the last decade. The most promising omics approaches and their outcomes in breast cancer have been presented in this book for the first time. The book covers omics technologies and budding fields such as breast cancer miRNA, lipidomics, epigenomics, proteomics, nutrigenomics, stem cell, pharmacogenomics and personalized medicine and many more along with conventional topics such as breast cancer management etc. It is a research-based reference book useful for clinician-scientists, researchers, geneticists and health care industries involved in various aspects of breast cancer. The book will also be useful for students of biomedicine, pathology and pharmacy.

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This book will serve as a primer for both laboratory and field scientists who are shaping the emerging field of molecular epidemiology. Molecular epidemiology utilizes the same paradigm as traditional epidemiology but uses biological markers to identify exposure, disease or susceptibility. Schulte and Perera present the epidemiologic methods pertinent to biological markers. The book is also designed to enumerate the considerations necessary for valid field research and provide a resource on the salient and subtle features of biological indicators.

Computational Epigenetics and Diseases, written by leading scientists in this evolving field, provides a comprehensive and cutting-edge knowledge of computational epigenetics in human diseases. In particular, the major computational tools, databases, and strategies for computational epigenetics analysis, for example, DNA methylation, histone modifications, microRNA, noncoding RNA, and ceRNA, are summarized, in the context of human diseases. This book discusses bioinformatics methods for epigenetic analysis specifically applied to human conditions such as aging, atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer disease, Parkinson disease, liver and autoimmune disorders, and reproductive and respiratory diseases. Additionally, different organ cancers, such as breast, lung, and colon, are discussed. This book is a valuable source for graduate students and researchers in genetics and bioinformatics, and several biomedical field members interested in applying computational epigenetics in their research. Provides a comprehensive and cutting-edge knowledge of computational epigenetics in human diseases Summarizes the major computational tools, databases, and strategies for computational epigenetics analysis, such as DNA methylation, histone modifications, microRNA, noncoding RNA, and ceRNA Covers the major milestones and future directions of computational epigenetics in various kinds of human diseases such as aging, atherosclerosis, diabetes, heart disease, neurological disorders, cancers, blood disorders, liver diseases, reproductive diseases, respiratory diseases, autoimmune diseases, human imprinting disorders, and infectious diseases