The Urokinase System in Cancer: From Stress Responses to Therapeutic Targeting
A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 22 October 2025 | Viewed by 12
Special Issue Editors
Interests: tumor cell; urokinase plasminogen activator; cell signaling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: tumor biology; molecular pathology; medical genetics; cell biology; genomics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Today, ischemic cerebral vascular events are one of the main causes of morbidity, with plasminogen activators being widely used as thrombolytic agents in clinics in different cases of blood vessels’ blood clot occlusions. However, the plasminogen activation system also has numerous other physiological and pathological functions, such as tissue remodeling and wound healing, cell migration and invasion, tumor metastases, etc. Although plasminogen is ubiquitous, the production of plasmin is closely controlled by the plasminogen activation system, consisting of tissue (tPA) and urokinase plasminogen activators (uPAs), its inhibitors and uPAR, a membrane urokinase receptor. Plasminogen activation system molecules are regulated at the level of transcription. They are also finely tuned and responsive to different cues, such as hormones, growth factors, chemotherapeutic agents, and DNA damage. Mechanisms of their regulation—not only on the level of transcription but also on the level of translation—secretion, and interactions with other molecules are still not known well enough. uPA, PAI1 and uPAR can influence cell proliferation, activate different signaling pathways in a cell-specific way, and regulate cell migration and invasion of tumor cells. This Special Issue will cover topics encompassing the mechanisms of urokinase plasminogen activation system molecules’ regulation in tumor cells and their use in diagnostics, prognostics and targeted therapy.
Potential topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Mechanisms of urokinase, PAI1 and uPAR promoter regulation;
- Regulation of uPA, PAI1 and uPAR expression and secretion;
- Molecular interactions of uPAR, PAI1 and uPA and their roles in cell migration, cell invasion and interactions with the microenvironment;
- Regulation of physiological and pathological processes via the plasminogen activation system in different tissues and organs;
- Prognostic and diagnostic roles of urokinase, PAI1 and uPAR;
- Therapeutic targeting of plasminogen activator system molecules.
Dr. Maja Matulić
Dr. Petra Korać
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- urokinase plasminogen activator
- PAI1
- urokinase plasminogen activator receptor
- transcription
- regulation
- cancer
- migration
- invasion
- stress
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