As a major cause of morbidity and mortality, clinical liver disease (CLD) has become a severely increasing global burden due to its occupancy of health resources for patient treatment. Many pharmacological approaches (such as targeted therapy) or surgical techniques (such as live transplantation and associating liver partition and portal vein ligation for staged hepatectomy [ALPPS]) may help to improve the prognosis of patients with CLD. However, the underlying pathological mechanism of disease and the rationality of these therapies have yet to be revealed. A comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of the occurrence and development of CLD and the relevant therapeutic approaches will support efforts for better prevention and therapy from the perspective of precision medicine.
Omics technologies provide valid approaches to reveal the potential mechanism of CLD through studies of whole genome, transcriptome, proteome, metabolome and microbiome profiles. As these technologies have advanced, omics testing is now widely affordable and has therefore become a preferred option for the investigation of potential targets and pathways involved in the pathogenesis of diseases. Improved algorithms guarantee data integration of multi omics data, and such integrated omics analyses provide more reliable data to guide further validation studies in vitro and in vivo. Multi-omics data also facilitate better prediction of the therapeutic effects of drugs and other interventions in CLD.
Therefore, we invite Original Articles, Reviews and Mini Reviews focusing on novel or the most-updated information on CLDs and relevant therapies based on via multi-omics approaches. The studies can be performed in human patients, in animal models, or in cell lines with the goal of characterizing the specific mechanisms underlying the pathogenesis, diagnosis, or treatment responses of CLDs, including chronic hepatitis, liver cirrhosis, and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) via combinative approaches involving transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, radiomics, etc. Multi-omics studies on key issues in liver transplantation (e.g., marginal grafts, ABO-mismatch, early allograft dysfunction and recurrence of primary liver disease) or other surgical techniques are especially welcome.
Research Topics
A. Multi-omics integrative analysis of issues related to the clinical application of marginal (macro-steatosis, aging, ABO-mismatched) grafts used for liver transplantation;
B. Genetics of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and investigation of potential therapeutic intervention targets;
C. Potential mechanistic study on chronic liver diseases (e.g., CHC, CHB) based on integrative multi-omics research;
D. Application of omics data in selection of recipients for liver transplantation (comparison of Hangzhou/Milan/UCSF criteria for recipient selection for liver transplantation);
E. Mechanistic studies on innate and adaptive immunity in sterile inflammation during liver injury (e.g., liver transplantation and hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury);
F. Cellular communication mechanisms (e.g., exosomes and metabolites) between nonparenchymal cells and parenchymal cells during tumorigenesis and development in liver cancers;
G. Metabolic reprogramming of tumor cells (such as amino acids and fatty acids) and induction of liver disease progression (including MAFLD, cirrhosis, and liver cancer); and
H. Interactive regulation of multiple tumor metabolism and signal transduction pathways in liver cancers.