Editorial for Special Issue “Genetic Basis and Epidemiology of Myopathies”

We are pleased to announce a Special Issue on the Genetic Basis and Epidemiology of Myopathies. This Special Issue is collecting papers pertaining to various lines of research focusing on the genetic basis and the epidemiology of myopathies. The Guest Editors’ note combines the contributing authors’ reviews and findings of relevant research, and we hope that future studies on myopathies will attempt to confirm these findings and, additionally, evaluate supplementary phenotypic and histological expressions of myopathies, as well as genetic factors in their pathogenesis.     

Editorial of Special Issue “Regulatory Roles of Inflammasomes in Human Diseases”

Inflammation is an innate immunity protecting the body from pathogens and cellular damages and comprises two steps; 1) priming (preparatory step) and triggering (activation step). The key feature of the triggering step is the activation of inflammasomes that are intracellular protein complexes consisting of pattern recognition receptors and inflammatory molecules. Inflammasomes are activated in response to various ligands, leading to the caspase-1-mediated maturation and secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines, IL-1β and IL-18 and the gasdermin D-mediated pyroptosis, an inflammatory form of cell death. Previous studies have demonstrated that inflammasome activation is a key determinant of inflammatory responses and many human diseases; therefore, inflammasomes have been attracted much attention as critical drug targets to prevent and treat various human diseases.