Dopamine Signaling Pathway in Health and Disease—3rd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Dopamine is a key neurotransmitter that plays a central role in regulating a broad spectrum of essential physiological functions within the central nervous system. These include motor control, emotional and affective regulation, reward and reinforcement mechanisms and higher-order cognitive processes. Dopaminergic signaling operates through four anatomically and functionally distinct pathways, the nigrostriatal, mesocortical, mesolimbic and tuberoinfundibular systems, each contributing uniquely to neural circuit modulation and behavioral outcomes.

Disruption in dopaminergic transmission represents a core pathophysiological mechanism underlying numerous neurological and psychiatric disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and addictive disorders. Aberrant dopamine signaling can profoundly affect synaptic plasticity, neuronal survival and circuit-level integration, thereby contributing to disease onset, progression and clinical heterogeneity.

This Special Issue, entitled “Dopamine Signaling Pathway in Health and Disease—3rd Edition,” will feature a rigorously selected collection of original research articles and reviews. The issue aims to elucidate the cellular, molecular and systems-level mechanisms underlying dopaminergic neuromodulation under physiological conditions, as well as in preclinical cellular and animal models of dopaminergic dysfunction and neurodegeneration. Furthermore, the Special Issue will critically explore innovative and translational pharmacological strategies targeting dopamine signaling, to develop more effective therapeutic interventions.

We cordially invite the submission of high-quality manuscripts that will contribute to advancing knowledge and innovation in this rapidly evolving field.

Prof. Dr. Floriana Volpicelli
Dr. Luisa Speranza
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 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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Biomedicines 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 2600 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.