Decoding Cancer's Immune Escape: Insights into MHC Class I Antigen Presentation Dysfunction

Dear Colleagues,

Antigen Processing and Presentation Machinery (APM) is a complex system that plays a critical role in the immune system's ability to detect and respond to foreign molecules, such as those from pathogens or cancer cells. This machinery is responsible for processing and presenting antigens to T cells, which play a key role in the immune response. Cancer cells are able to evade the immune system by altering the way they present antigens, or by downregulating the expression of MHC molecules on their surface. This can make it difficult for T cells to recognize and attack the cancer cells. One way that cancer cells can evade the immune system is through a process called "immunoediting." This process involves the selection of cancer cells that are able to evade the immune response, leading to the development of "immunoedited" tumors that are resistant to attack by T cells. In addition, some cancer cells can downregulate the expression of MHC class I molecules on their surface, making them invisible to T cells. This is known as "MHC loss" and is a common mechanism of immune evasion in human cancers. Some cancer types have been found to have a high frequency of mutations and defects in APM, making them more susceptible to immune system detection, such as melanoma and colorectal cancer. In other types of cancer, such as ovarian cancer, and certain types of lung cancer, the immune system is often suppressed and unable to recognize and attack the cancer cells effectively. Understanding the mechanisms by which cancer cells evade the immune system through alterations in APM can aid in developing new cancer immunotherapies.

The Special Issue will contain a collection of manuscripts focused on APM and cancer research, encompassing investigations into its development, progression, diagnosis, risk assessment, and prognosis. These manuscripts will place particular emphasis on the underlying molecular features of the neoplastic disease, with the aim of quickly developing more effective therapeutic approaches. The Special Issue will welcome the latest research articles and reviews that clarify concepts, interpret experimental data, suggest specific experiments, and organize the vast body of knowledge on prostate cancer.

Prof. Dr. Fabio Grizzi
Prof. Dr. Maurizio Chiriva-Internati
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• cancer
• antigen processing and presentation machinery
• molecular mechanisms
• diagnosis
• prognosis
• modelling
• therapy
• microenvironment
• immuno-oncology
• bioinformatics
• imaging
• spatial genomics
• spatial transcriptomic
• tumor complexity
• biomarkers