infectious disease
Definition
Infectious disease refers to illnesses caused by pathogenic microorganisms including bacteria, viruses, fungi, or parasites that can be transmitted between hosts through direct contact, vectors, or environmental exposure. These diseases result from complex interactions between pathogen virulence factors, host immune responses, and environmental conditions. Understanding infectious disease mechanisms requires analyzing molecular pathways of pathogen entry, replication, immune evasion, and host defense responses. Key concepts include pathogen-host interactions, transmission dynamics, antimicrobial resistance, and immune system activation cascades that determine disease severity and outcomes.
Visualize infectious disease in Nodes Bio
Researchers can visualize host-pathogen protein interactions, map immune response pathways, and analyze gene regulatory networks activated during infection. Network graphs reveal how pathogens manipulate host cellular machinery, identify critical nodes in immune signaling cascades, and uncover potential drug targets by mapping pathogen dependency networks and resistance mechanisms across multiple biological scales.
Visualization Ideas:
- Host-pathogen protein-protein interaction networks showing viral hijacking of cellular machinery
- Immune response cascade networks mapping cytokine signaling and inflammatory pathways
- Antimicrobial resistance gene networks showing horizontal transfer and mutation patterns across bacterial strains
Example Use Case
A research team investigating SARS-CoV-2 infection mechanisms uses network analysis to map viral protein interactions with human host factors. They visualize how the spike protein engages ACE2 receptors, triggering downstream signaling cascades that lead to cytokine storm. By integrating transcriptomic data from infected cells, they identify key regulatory nodes in the interferon response pathway that distinguish mild from severe COVID-19 cases, revealing potential therapeutic intervention points.