Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
5.7
3.6
Journals
Biology
Special Issues
Unraveling the Tumor-Immune Microenvironment Using Transcriptomics
share announcement

Unraveling the Tumor-Immune Microenvironment Using Transcriptomics

A special issue of Biology (ISSN 2079-7737). This special issue belongs to the section "Cancer Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 128

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Leonardo Oliveira Reis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. UroScience and Department of Surgery (Urology), School of Medical Sciences, University of Campinas, Unicamp, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
2. ImmunOncology, Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas, PUC-Campinas, Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil
Interests: immunology; immune oncology; genitourinary cancer; urologic oncology; oncology; urology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The immune microenvironment (TIME) is a dynamic ecosystem that plays a critical role in cancer progression, immune evasion, and therapeutic response. It consists of cellular components, including cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs), tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), myeloid cells, and myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), as well as non-cellular elements like the extracellular matrix (ECM), abnormal vasculature, and signaling molecules (cytokines, chemokines, and metabolites). These surrounding tumor elements orchestrate complex interactions between tumor and immune cells, promoting or suppressing anti-tumor immunity.

TIME’s often immunosuppressive nature enables tumors to evade detection through mechanisms like immune checkpoint activation, metabolic reprogramming, and the recruitment of suppressive cells. Such complexity also offers therapeutic opportunities and emerging strategies include immune checkpoint inhibitors, therapies targeting suppressive cells, metabolic modulators, and personalized approaches like neoantigen vaccines.

Technological advances such as single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics reveal TIME’s heterogeneity and identify biomarkers and therapeutic targets. Reprogramming TIME to enhance immune activation is a leading focus in cancer research, potentially improving immunotherapy, overcoming resistance, and enabling precision oncology.

I look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Leonardo Oliveira Reis
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 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. 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 2700 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.

Keywords

  • tumor-immune microenvironment
  • immune cells
  • tumor cells
  • stromal cells
  • signaling molecules
  • extracellular matrix (ECM)
  • vascular network

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 2184 KiB  
Article
Comparative Analysis of Cytokine Expression Profiles in Prostate Cancer Patients
by Karoline Brito Caetano Andrade Coelho, Denise Kusma Wosniaki, Jonatas Luiz Pereira, Murilo Luz, Letusa Albrecht, Jeanine Marie Nardin, Mateus Nobrega Aoki, Leonardo O. Reis, Rodolfo Borges dos Reis and Dalila Lucíola Zanette
Biology 2025, 14(5), 505; https://doi.org/10.3390/biology14050505 - 6 May 2025
Abstract
This study aimed to identify the cytokine expression profile in prostate cancer (PCa) patients compared to healthy individuals. Plasma samples from 75 PCa patients and 14 healthy controls were analyzed using Multiplex ELISA (Luminex) to measure the expression levels of 12 cytokines: IL-4, [...] Read more.
This study aimed to identify the cytokine expression profile in prostate cancer (PCa) patients compared to healthy individuals. Plasma samples from 75 PCa patients and 14 healthy controls were analyzed using Multiplex ELISA (Luminex) to measure the expression levels of 12 cytokines: IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, IL-1β, IL-17A, IL-12p70, MCP-1/CCL2, MIP-1α/CCL3, MIP-1β/CCL4, TNF-α, and IFN-γ. Differences in cytokine expression levels were analyzed using the Mann–Whitney test, Wilcoxon’s rank-sum test, Spearman’s rank correlation, and K-means Clustering unsupervised machine learning to validate cytokine expression patterns. In PCa patients, MIP-1α/CCL3, MIP-1β/CCL4, IFN-γ, and interleukins exhibited significantly higher expression levels; conversely, TNF-α and MCP-1/CCL2 both had decreased expression compared to healthy individuals. The clustering analysis confirmed that PCa patients exclusively exhibit the highest associations with MIP-1α/CCL3, IFN- γ, IL-12p70, IL-4, and IL-5. Furthermore, specific correlations between IL-4 and MIP-1 beta, IL-4 and IFN-gamma, IL-5 and IL-12p70, and IL-5 and IFN-gamma in PCa patients did not occur in healthy individuals. Such results will guide forthcoming in vitro and in vivo human prostate cancer-drug treatment models, paving the way for exploration of future drug targets and candidates with potential to predict FDA-approved prostate cancer treatment responses by targeting cytokine levels and the oncogenesis pathways. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Unraveling the Tumor-Immune Microenvironment Using Transcriptomics)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-1
Back to TopTop