Title:An Overview of HMGB1 and its Potential Role as a Biomarker for RSV Infection
Volume: 15
Issue: 3
Author(s): Sara Manti*, Caterina Cuppari, Giuseppe Fabio Parisi and Carmelo Salpietro
Affiliation:
- Department of Pediatrics, Unit of Pediatric Genetics and Immunology, University of Messina, Messina,Italy
Keywords:
Bronchiolitis, children, HMGB1, infectious diseases, respiratory syncytial virus, lower respiratory tract infections.
Abstract: Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), an enveloped, non-segmented, negative-sense RNA
virus of the Paramyxoviridae family, is the most common respiratory pathogen in infants and young
children worldwide, also leading to lower respiratory tract infections during infancy and subsequent
development of recurrent wheezing and asthma in childhood. Despite many years of research, we
still lack reliable biomarkers of the disease activity as well as effective vaccines and therapeutic
strategies. Recent studies have directed attention toward High Mobility Group Box-1 (HMGB1), a 30
kDa nuclear and cytosolic ubiquitous protein, belonging to the alarmins family and promoting an
immediate activation of the innate immune response, as a biomarker potentially able to elucidate the
link between the RSV and chronic airway dysfunction. Herein, we aimed to summarize what is
known on RSV-HMGB1 link, also describing recent findings coming from our experimental studies.