Research progress of immune response regulated by epigenetic modification in pneumonia

Abstract

Pneumonia is one of the most common infectious diseases, and although considerable progress has been made in the diagnosis and treatment of pneumonia, it is still associated with high mortality, prolonged hospitalization, and significant medical expenditures. Epigenetic modifications are heritable changes in gene expression without altering the DNA sequence, including DNA methylation, histone modification, non-coding RNA and RNA modification, which are involved in regulating gene expression at multiple levels, including DNA, histone, and transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. A growing number of studies have suggested that epigenetic regulation may play a central role in the initiation and progression of pneumonia by regulating the immune function. Following the infection with pathogens in the lungs, epigenetic modification can affect the occurrence and progression of pneumonia in different individuals by regulating the inflammatory and immune response, including the development and differentiation of various immune cells, the recognition and transduction of infection signals, and the production of cytokines and anti-pathogen effector molecules. By summarizing recent studies on epigenetic modification of immunity in pneumonia, this review elucidates the key role that epigenetic modification of immunology plays in the initiation and progression of pneumonia, as well as its potential application to clinical diagnosis and therapeutic targets in the treatment of pneumonia, providing a sound theoretical basis for further research.

Keywords

• pneumonia
• epigenetic modification
• immune cell
• therapy target