Autophagy and the Ubiquitin–Proteasome System: Regulators of Protein Homeostasis, Cell Death, and Disease Pathogenesis

Dear Colleagues,

The maintenance of protein homeostasis and organelle integrity and function is crucial for cellular homeostasis and cell viability. All intracellular proteins and most extracellular proteins are constantly being renewed, meaning they are continuously degraded and replaced by newly synthesized proteins. The degradation of intracellular proteins mainly occurs through two pathways: autophagy and the ubiquitin–proteasome system. Autophagy is the principal mechanism that mediates the delivery of various cellular cargoes to lysosomes for degradation and recycling, while the ubiquitin–proteasome system is a highly complex, ubiquitin-mediated protein degradation mechanism that is involved in the degradation of many intracellular proteins with high specificity.

At the molecular level, numerous studies have demonstrated various interactions between these two degradation pathways. Both autophagy and the ubiquitin–proteasome system can utilize ubiquitin as a common tag to degrade ubiquitinated substrates. Proteasomes tagged with ubiquitin can be cleared through autophagy, and autophagy-related proteins can also be degraded via the proteasome system. The two pathways regulate each other's activity, working together to maintain cellular homeostasis.

This Special Issue invites the submission of original research articles and reviews that elucidate the roles and interconnections of autophagy and the ubiquitin–proteasome system, uncovering the molecular mechanisms underlying the regulation of protein homeostasis and their roles in cell death and disease pathogenesis. We aim to advance our understanding of the pathology related to protein homeostasis and pave the way for innovative therapeutic strategies.

This Special Issue is co-led by Dr. Qin Xia from Beijing Institute of Technology, and Dr. Shuai Fan from Beijing Institute of Technology. We thank them for their contribution and involvement in proposing, promoting, and developing the Special Issue.

Dr. Lei Dong
Guest Editor

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Current Issues in Molecular Biology is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). 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.