Advances and Novel Strategies for Studying Underexplored Post-Translational Modifications (PTMs)
A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 45
Special Issue Editor
Interests: posttranslational modifications; epigenetics; oxygen sensing; chemical proteomics; quantitative proteomics; metabolism; lysine acylation; hydroxylation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
To date, over 600 types of protein post-translational modifications (PTMs) have been documented. However, only a limited number have been thoroughly characterized to understand their regulatory pathways and functional significance in physiology, while the vast majority remain underexplored. Emerging evidence suggests that these lesser-known PTMs play critical roles in diverse metabolic and signaling pathways. Yet, the systematic and functional characterization of underexplored PTMs remains challenging due to several factors.
First, there is often a lack of efficient methods to enrich and confidently identify PTM sites and proteins from complex biological samples. Second, quantitative strategies to assess modification dynamics, prevalence, or crosstalk with other PTMs are frequently lacking. Third, effective approaches to investigate the site-specific roles of PTMs in regulating substrate activity and physiological outcomes remain underdeveloped. Finally, there is a significant knowledge gap regarding the regulatory pathways that control these modifications.
Advances in both technological development and functional studies are urgently needed to close these gaps. Such efforts will deepen our understanding of the biological pathways and networks governed by underexplored PTMs, as well as their dynamics and responses to cellular metabolic changes. Ultimately, this may lay the foundation for the discovery of novel disease markers and therapeutic targets. This Special Issue invites the latest research and reviews on the discovery and functional characterization of underexplored protein modification targets and regulatory enzymes in cellular metabolism, development, aging and various disease phenotypes, including cancer and metabolic diseases.
Dr. Yue Chen
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- post-translational modifications proteomics
- chemical biology
- cell signaling
- epigenetics
- metabolic regulation
- cancer
- diabetes
- microbiome
- aging
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