State of the Art and Perspectives in Retinal Pigment Epithelium

Dear Colleagues,

Retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) plays a fundamental role in retina physiopathology and in visual function maintenance. Indeed, first of all, it guarantees photoreceptor renewal, through its phagocytic activity; RPE also contributes to the establishment of the blood–retinal barrier and controls incoming and outgoing molecular transports. Moreover, RPE cells can protect the neural components of the retina from light damage thanks to its melanin content and their ability to call upon several metabolic pathways that are able to enhance the scavenging of reactive oxygen species within the eye, thereby counteracting oxidative damage. Consequently, RPE integrity alterations, as well as unbalanced RPE renewal and proliferation, can lead to the development of different retinopathies, which, to date, deeply lack effective and resolutive therapies.

The focus of this Special Issue is to highlight the recent advances in RPE physiopathology and in new potential therapeutic approaches for retinopathies that have arisen from RPE dysfunctionality. Recent advances and overviews on study models, including new methodology and technologies for RPE investigation, will be considered. We also encourage the submission of reports exploring the therapeutic or ameliorative effects on retinal diseases of natural extracts, natural bioactive and synthetic molecules, or innovative delivery strategies for eye administration, including chemical hybrids and nanocarriers, or even combination treatments.

As a part of this Special Issue, we invite the submission of original manuscripts spanning basic to pre-clinical and clinical research, brief reports, meta-analysis, and narrative and systematic reviews proposing novelties or overviews in the aforementioned fields.

Prof. Dr. Paola Secchiero
Dr. Elisabetta Melloni
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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. Biomolecules 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.

• retinal pigment epithelium
• innovative treatments/therapeutic approaches
• retinal diseases
• bioactive molecules
• eye delivery strategy