Announcements

We are proud to recognize the winners of MDPI’s 2021 Travel Awards in the “Biology & Life Sciences” category for their outstanding presentations and to present them with the prize.

MDPI journals regularly offer travel awards to encourage talented junior scientists to present their latest research at academic conferences in specific fields, which helps to increase their influence.

The winners mentioned below were carefully selected by the journal editors based on an outline of their research and the work to be presented at an academic conference.

We would like to warmly congratulate the winners of 2021 Travel Awards and wish them the greatest success with their future research endeavors. MDPI will continue to enhance communication among scientists.

Agriculture:

• Zahra Bitarafan, Norwegian Institute of Bioeconomy Research (NIBIO), Norway
• Nikolaos Tsoulias, Leibniz Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), Germany

Fermentation:

• Michela Verni, University of Bari, Italy
• Philipp Demling, RWTH Aachen University, Germany

Horticulturae:

• Jagveer Singh, Punjab Agricultural University, India
• Ibrar Hussain, State University of Londrina, Brazil

Microorganisms:

• Francis Muchaamba, University of Zurich, Switzerland

Methods and Protocols:

• Tanja Eisemann, SBP Medical Discovery Institute, USA

Nutrients:

• Mrinalini Dey, National Institute for Health Research, UK
• Ben Kirk, University of Melbourne, Australia
• Kirrilly Pursey, University of Newcastle, Australia
• Dieuwertje Kok, Wageningen University, the Netherlands
• Hanna Huber, University of Bonn, Germany
• Marlene Lages, University of Porto, Portugal
• Zohra S. Lassi, University of Adelaide, Australia
• Rik Olde Engberink, Amsterdam University Medicial Center, the Netherlands
• Sarah Warkentin, University of Porto (ISPUP), Portugal
• Álvaro Hernáez, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Norway
• Leila Abdelhamid, Virginia-Maryland College of Veterinary Medicine, Virginia Tech, USA
• Maria Michela Cesare, University of Siena, Italy
• Kaisa Hiippala, University of Helsinki, Finland

Pathogens:

• Vanessa Silva, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro, Portugal
• Hejun Liu, Scripps Research Institute, USA
• Tomokazu Tamura, Princeton University, USA

Toxins:

• Cecilie Knudsen, Technical University of Denmark, Denmark
• Laura Biessy, Cawthron Institute, New Zealand
• Marcelo Mendes Rabelo, University of Florida, USA

Vaccines:

• Hee Chun Chung, Seoul National University, South Korea
• Alejandro Marin Lopez, Yale University, USA

The purpose of our Best Paper Awards is to promote and recognize the most impactful contributions published within MDPI journals.

The editors of each journal carefully selected reviews and research papers through a rigorous judging process based on criteria such as the scientific merit, overall impact, and the quality of presentation of the papers published in the journal last year.

We are honored to present the winners in the subject areas of “Biology & Life Sciences”, who were selected amongst extensive competition, and congratulate the authors for their outstanding scientific publications.

MDPI will continue to provide support and recognition to the academic community.

Animals:

• “Effects of Dietary Betaine on Growth Performance, Digestive Function, Carcass Traitsand Meat Quality in Indigenous Yellow-Feathered Broilers under Long-Term Heat Stress”

by Wenchao Liu, Yilin Yuan, Chenyu Sun, Balamuralikrishnan Balasubramanian, Zhihui Zhao and Lilong An

Animals 2019, 9(8), 506, doi 10.3390/ani9080506

• “The Ethics of Human–Animal Relationships and Public Discourse: A Case Study of Lions Bred for Their Bones”

by Peter Coals, Dawn Burnham, Andrew Loveridge, David W. Macdonald, Michael ’t Sas-Rolfes, Vivienne L. Williams and John A. Vucetich

Animals 2019, 9(2), 52; doi 10.3390/ani9020052

• “The Potential Role of Insects as Feed: A Multi-Perspective Review”

by Giovanni Sogari, Mario Amato, Ilaria Biasato, Silvana Chiesa and Laura Gasco

Animals 2019, 9(4), 119; doi 10.3390/ani9040119

Antibodies:

• “Antibody Structure and Function: The Basis for Engineering Therapeutics”

by Mark L. Chiu; Dennis R. Goulet; Alexey Teplyakov and Gary L. Gilliland

Antibodies 2019, 8(4), 55; doi 10.3390/antib8040055

Antioxidants:

• “Antioxidant and Anti-Inflammatory Activities of Flavanones from Glycyrrhiza glabra L. (licorice) Leaf Phytocomplexes: Identification of Licoflavanone as a Modulator of NF-kB/MAPK Pathway”

by Luca Frattaruolo, Gabriele Carullo, Matteo Brindisi, Sarah Mazzotta, Luca Bellissimo, Vittoria Rago, Rosita Curcio, Vincenza Dolce, Francesca Aiello and Anna Rita Cappello

Antioxidants 2019, 8(6), 186; doi 10.3390/antiox8060186

• “LC-ESI-QTOF/MS Characterisation of Phenolic Acids and Flavonoids in Polyphenol-Rich Fruits and Vegetables and Their Potential Antioxidant Activities”

by Chunhe Gu, Kate Howell, Frank R. Dunshea and Hafiz A. R. Suleria

Antioxidants 2019, 8(9), 405; doi 10.3390/antiox8090405

• “Nutritional Value, Chemical Composition and Cytotoxic Properties of Common Purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) in Relation to Harvesting Stage and Plant Part”

by Spyridon A. Petropoulos, Ângela Fernandes, Maria Inês Dias, Ioannis B. Vasilakoglou, Konstantinos Petrotos, Lillian Barros and Isabel C. F. R. Ferreira

Antioxidants 2019, 8(8), 293; doi 10.3390/antiox8080293

• “A Comprehensive Review on Lipid Oxidation in Meat and Meat Products”

by Rubén Domínguez, Mirian Pateiro, Mohammed Gagaoua, Francisco J. Barba, Wangang Zhang and José M. Lorenzo

Antioxidants 2019, 8(10), 429; doi 10.3390/antiox8100429

Biology:

• “The Mammalian Circadian Timing System and the Suprachiasmatic Nucleus as Its Pacemaker”

by Michael H. Hastings, Elizabeth S. Maywood and Marco Brancaccio

Biology 2019, 8(1), 13; doi 10.3390/biology8010013

• “Combined Effects of Acute Temperature Change and Elevated pCO₂ on the Metabolic Rates and Hypoxia Tolerances of Clearnose Skate (Rostaraja eglanteria), Summer Flounder (Paralichthys dentatus), and Thorny Skate (Amblyraja radiata)”

by Gail D. Schwieterman, Daniel P. Crear, Brooke N. Anderson, Danielle R. Lavoie, James A. Sulikowski, Peter G. Bushnell and Richard W. Brill

Biology 2019, 8(3), 56; doi 10.3390/biology8030056

Biomolecules:

• “Flagella-Driven Motility of Bacteria”

by Shuichi Nakamura and Tohru Minamino

Biomolecules 2019, 9(7), 279; doi 10.3390/biom9070279

• “Systematic FTIR Spectroscopy Study of the Secondary Structure Changes in Human Serum Albumin under Various Denaturation Conditions”

by Dmitrii Usoltsev, Vera Sitnikovaandrey Kajava and Mayya Uspenskaya

Biomolecules 2019, 9(8), 359; doi 10.3390/biom9080359

• “Quantification of Fecal Short Chain Fatty Acids by Liquid Chromatography Tandem Mass Spectrometry—Investigation of Pre-Analytic Stability”

by Gerhard Liebisch, Josef Ecker, Sebastian Roth, Sabine Schweizer, Veronika Öttl, Hans-Frieder Schött, Hongsup Yoon, Dirk Haller, Ernst Holler, Ralph Burkhardt and Silke Matysik

Biomolecules 2019, 9(4), 121; doi 10.3390/biom9040121

• “Cytotoxicity of Dendrimers”

by Anna Janaszewska, Joanna Lazniewska, Przemysław Trzepiński, Monika Marcinkowska and Barbara Klajnert-Maculewicz

Biomolecules 2019, 9(8), 330; doi 10.3390/biom9080330

Cells:

• “Combined Inhibition of TGF-β Signaling and the PD-L1 Immune Checkpoint Is Differentially Effective in Tumor Models”

by Heng Sheng Sow, Jiang Ren, Marcel Camps, Ferry Ossendorp and Peter ten Dijke

Cells 2019, 8(4), 320; doi 10.3390/cells8040320

• “Exosome Treatment Enhances Anti-Inflammatory M2 Macrophages and Reduces Inflammation-Induced Pyroptosis in Doxorubicin-Induced Cardiomyopathy”

by Dinender K. Singla, Taylor A. Johnson and Zahra Tavakoli Dargani

Cells 2019, 8(10), 1224; doi 10.3390/cells8101224

• “Overview of Extracellular Vesicles, Their Origin, Composition, Purpose, and Methods for Exosome Isolation and Analysis”

by Laura M. Doyle and Michael Zhuo Wang

Cells 2019, 8(7), 727; doi 10.3390/cells8070727

• “Mesenchymal Stem Cells for Regenerative Medicine”

by Yu Han, Xuezhou Li, Yanbo Zhang, Yuping Han, Fei Chang and Jianxun Ding

Cells 2019, 8(8), 886; doi 10.3390/cells8080886

Genes:

• “A High-Quality De novo Genome Assembly from a Single Mosquito Using PacBio Sequencing”

by Sarah B. Kingan, Haynes Heaton, Juliana Cudini, Christine C. Lambert, Primo Baybayan, Brendan D. Galvin, Richard Durbin, Jonas Korlach and Mara K. N. Lawniczak

Genes 2019, 10(1), 62; doi 10.3390/genes10010062

• “Eukaryotic 5-methylcytosine (m⁵C) RNA Methyltransferases: Mechanisms, Cellular Functions, and Links to Disease”

by Katherine E Bohnsack, Claudia Höbartner and Markus T Bohnsack

Genes 2019, 10(2), 102; doi 10.3390/genes10020102

• “Tree Lab: Portable Genomics for Early Detection of Plant Viruses and Pests in Sub-Saharan Africa”

by Laura M. Boykin, Peter Sseruwagi, Titus Alicai, Elijah Ateka, Ibrahim Umar Mohammed, Jo-Ann L. Stanton, Charles Kayuki, Deogratius Mark, Tarcisius Fute, Joel Erasto, Hilda Bachwenkizi, Brenda Muga, Naomi Mumo, Jenniffer Mwangi, Phillip Abidrabo, Geoffrey Okao-Okuja, Geresemu Omuut, Jacinta Akol, Hellen B. Apio, Francis Osingada, Monica A. Kehoe, David Eccles, Anders Savill, Stephen Lamb, Tonny Kinene, Christopher B. Rawle, Abishek Muralidhar, Kirsty Mayall, Fred Tairo and Joseph Ndunguru

Genes 2019, 10(9), 632; doi 10.3390/genes10090632

• “Transcription Factors Associated with Abiotic and Biotic Stress Tolerance and Their Potential for Crops Improvement”

by Elamin Hafiz Baillo, Roy Njoroge Kimotho, Zhengbin Zhang and Ping Xu

Genes 2019, 10(10), 771; doi 10.3390/genes10100771

Horticulturae:

• “Recent Advances in Hormonal Regulation and Cross-Talk during Non-Climacteric Fruit Development and Ripening”

by Lida Fuentes, Carlos R. Figueroa and Monika Valdenegro

Horticulturae 2019, 5(2), 45; doi 10.3390/horticulturae5020045

• “Evaluation of Two Wild Populations of Hedge Mustard (Sisymbrium officinale (L.) Scop.) as a Potential Leafy Vegetable”

by Marta Guarise, Gigliola Borgonovo, Angela Bassoli and Antonio Ferrante

Horticulturae 2019, 5(1), 13; doi 10.3390/horticulturae5010013

Insects:

• “Olfactory Preference of Drosophila suzukii Shifts between Fruit and Fermentation Cues over the Season: Effects of Physiological Status”

by Rik Clymans, Vincent Van Kerckvoorde, Eva Bangels, Wannes Akkermans, Ammar Alhmedi, Patrick De Clercq, Tim Beliën and Dany bylemans

Insects 2019, 10(7), 200; doi 10.3390/insects10070200

• “Telenomus remus, a Candidate Parasitoid for the Biological Control of Spodoptera frugiperda in Africa, is already Present on the Continent”

by Marc Kenis, Hannalene du Plessis, Johnnie Van den Berg, Malick Niango Ba, Georg Goergen, Koffi Eric Kwadjo, Ibrahim Baoua, Tadele Tefera, Alan Buddie, Giovanni Cafà, Lisa Offord, Ivan Rwomushana and Andrew Polaszek

Insects 2019, 10(4), 92; doi 10.3390/insects10040092

• “Symbiotic Plant Biomass Decomposition in Fungus-Growing Termites”

by Rafael R. da Costa, Haofu Hu, Hongjie Li and Michael Poulsen

Insects 2019, 10(4), 87; doi 10.3390/insects10040087

International Journal of Molecular Sciences:

• “Aging, Melatonin, and the Pro- and Anti-Inflammatory Networks”

by Rüdiger Hardeland

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(5), 1223; doi 10.3390/ijms20051223

• “Causative Links between Protein Aggregation and Oxidative Stress: A Review”

by Elise Lévy, Nadine El Banna, Dorothée Baïlle, Amélie Heneman-Masurel, Sandrine Truchet, Human Rezaei, Meng-Er Huang, Vincent Béringue, Davy Martin and Laurence Vernis

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(16), 3896; doi 10.3390/ijms20163896

• “Immunobiology of Atherosclerosis: A Complex Net of Interactions”

by Beatriz Herrero-Fernandez, Raquel Gomez-Bris, Beatriz Somovilla-Crespo and Jose Maria Gonzalez-Granado

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(21), 5293; doi 10.3390/ijms20215293

• “Development of a Gut-on-a-Chip Model for High Throughput Disease Modeling and Drug Discovery”

by Claudia Beaurivage, Elena Naumovska, Yee Xiang Chang, Edo D. Elstak, Arnaud Nicolas, Heidi Wouters, Guido van Moolenbroek, Henriëtte L. Lanz, Sebastiaan J. Trietsch, Jos Joore, Paul Vulto, Richard A.J. Janssen, Kai S. Erdmann, Jan Stallen and Dorota Kurek

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(22), 5661; doi 10.3390/ijms20225661

• “Triple-Negative Breast Cancer with High Levels of Annexin A1 Expression Is Associated with Mast Cell Infiltration, Inflammationand Angiogenesis”

by Maiko Okano, Masanori Oshi, Ali Linsk Butash, Eriko Katsuta, Kazunoshin Tachibana, Katsuharu Saito, Hirokazu Okayama, Xuan Peng, Li Yan, Koji Kono, Toru Ohtake and Kazuaki Takabe

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(17), 4197; doi 10.3390/ijms20174197

• “CGRP Induces Differential Regulation of Cytokines from Satellite Glial Cells in Trigeminal Ganglia and Orofacial Nociception”

by Shaista Afroz, Rieko Arakaki, Takuma Iwasa, Masamitsu Oshima, Maki Hosoki, Miho Inoue, Otto Baba, Yoshihiro Okayama and Yoshizo Matsuka

Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2019, 20(3), 711; doi 10.3390/ijms20030711

Life:

• “Characterization of Resistance in Gram-Negative Urinary Isolates Using Existing and Novel Indicators of Clinical Relevance: A 10-Year Data Analysis”

by Márió Gajdács, Zoltán Bátori, Marianna Ábrók, Andrea Lázár and Katalin Burián

Life 2020, 10(2), 16; doi 10.3390/life10020016

• “Neuroprotection or Neurotoxicity of Illicit Drugs on Parkinson’s Disease”

by Carla Ferreira, Catarina Almeida, Sandra Tenreiro and Alexandre Quintas

Life 2020, 10(6), 86; doi 10.3390/life10060086

Nutrients:

• “Gut Microbiome: Profound Implications for Diet and Disease”

by Ronald D. Hills, Benjamin A. Pontefract, Hillary R. Mishcon, Cody A. Black, Steven C. Sutton and Cory R. Theberge

Nutrients 2019, 11(7), 1613; doi 10.3390/nu11071613

• “Vitamin C Can Shorten the Length of Stay in the ICU: A Meta-Analysis”

by Harri Hemilä and Elizabeth Chalker

Nutrients 2019, 11(4), 708; doi 10.3390/nu11040708

• “Early Time-Restricted Feeding Improves 24-Hour Glucose Levels and Affects Markers of the Circadian Clock, Aging, and Autophagy in Humans”

by Humaira Jamshed, Robbie A. Beyl, Deborah L. Della Manna, Eddy S. Yang, Eric Ravussin and Courtney M. Peterson

Nutrients 2019, 11(6), 1234; doi 10.3390/nu11061234

Pathogens:

• “Alteration of Gut Microbiota in Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD): Cause or Consequence? IBD Treatment Targeting the Gut Microbiome”

by Israr Kha, Naeem Ullah, Lajia Zha, Yanrui Bai, Ashiq Khan, Tang Zhao, Tuanjie Che and Chunjiang Zhang

Pathogens 2019, 8(3), 126; doi 10.3390/pathogens8030126

• “Candida albicans Interactions with Mucosal Surfaces during Health and Disease”

by Spyridoula-Angeliki Nikou,Nessim Kichik, Rhys Brown, Nicole O. Ponde, Jemima Ho, Julian R. Naglik and Jonathan P. Richardson

Pathogens 2019, 8(2), 53; doi 10.3390/pathogens8020053

• “Bacteriophages in Natural and Artificial Environments”

by Steven Batinovic, Flavia Wassef, Sarah A. Knowler, Daniel T.F. Rice, Cassandra R. Stanton, Jayson Rose, Joseph Tucci, Tadashi Nittami, Antony Vinh, Grant R. Drummond, Christopher G. Sobey, Hiu Tat Chan, Robert J. Seviour, Steve Petrovski and Ashley E. Franks

Pathogens 2019, 8(3), 100; doi 10.3390/pathogens8030100

Plants:

• “Plant Disease Detection and Classification by Deep Learning”

by Muhammad Hammad Saleem, Johan Potgieter and Khalid Mahmood Arif 

Plants 2019, 8(11), 468; doi 10.3390/plants8110468

• “Involvement of Phenolic Acids in Short-Term Adaptation to Salinity Stress is Species-Specific among Brassicaceae”

by Ida Linić, Dunja Šamec, Jiří Grúz, Valerija Vujčić Bok, Miroslav Strnad and Branka Salopek-Sondi

Plants 2019, 8(6), 155; doi 10.3390/plants8060155

• “Isoform-Specific NO Synthesis by Arabidopsis thaliana Nitrate Reductase”

by Marie Agatha Mohn, Besarta Thaqi and Katrin Fischer-Schrader

Plants 2019, 8(3), 67; doi 10.3390/plants8030067

• “GWAS for Starch-Related Parameters in Japonica Rice (Oryza sativa L.)”

by Chiara Biselliandrea Volante, Francesca Desiderio, Alessandro Tondelli, Alberto Gianinetti, Franca Finocchiaro, Federica Taddei, Laura Gazza, Daniela Sgrulletta, Luigi Cattivelli and Giampiero Valè

Plants 2019, 8(8), 292; doi 10.3390/plants8080292

1. “Impact of Autophagy of Innate Immune Cells on Inflammatory Bowel Disease”
Iida, Tomoya et al.
Cells 2019, 8(1), 7; 10.3390/cells8010007.
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/8/1/7

2. “A Rise in ATP, ROS, and Mitochondrial Content upon Glucose Withdrawal Correlates with a Dysregulated Mitochondria Turnover Mediated by the Activation of the Protein Deacetylase SIRT1”
Song, Seon Beom et al.
Cells 2019, 8(1), 11; 10.3390/cells8010011.
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/8/1/11

3. “Oxidative Stress Induces Telomere Dysfunction and Senescence by Replication Fork Arrest”
Coluzzi, Elisa et al.
Cells 2019, 8(1), 19; 10.3390/cells8010019.
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/8/1/19

4. “The Roles of Ubiquitin-Binding Protein Shuttles in the Degradative Fate of Ubiquitinated Proteins in the Ubiquitin-Proteasome System and Autophagy”
Zientara-Rytter, Katarzyna et al.
Cells 2019, 8(1), 40; 10.3390/cells8010040.
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/8/1/40

5. “Carnosine Prevents Aβ-Induced Oxidative Stress and Inflammation in Microglial Cells: A Key Role of TGF-β1”
Caruso, Giuseppe et al.
Cells 2019, 8(1), 64; 10.3390/cells8010064.
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/8/1/64

6. “Telomere Biology and Human Phenotype”
Turner, Kara et al.
Cells 2019, 8(1), 73; 10.3390/cells8010073.
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/8/1/73

7. “Application of Prostate Cancer Models for Preclinical Study: Advantages and Limitations of Cell Lines, Patient-Derived Xenografts, and Three-Dimensional Culture of Patient-Derived Cells”
Namekawa, Takeshi et al.
Cells 2019, 8(1), 74; 10.3390/cells8010074.
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/8/1/74

8. “Metabolic Reprogramming in Breast Cancer and Its Therapeutic Implications”
Gandhi, Nishant et al.
Cells 2019, 8(2), 89; 10.3390/cells8020089.
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/8/2/89

9. “Mitochondrial DNA Integrity: Role in Health and Disease”
Sharma, Priyanka et al.
Cells 2019, 8(2), 100; 10.3390/cells8020100.
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/8/2/100

10. “Revisiting Telomere Shortening in Cancer”
Okamoto, Keiji et al.
Cells 2019, 8(2), 107; 10.3390/cells8020107.
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/8/2/107

11. “Apolipoprotein E4 Alters Astrocyte Fatty Acid Metabolism and Lipid Droplet Formation”
Farmer, Brandon et al.
Cells 2019, 8(2), 182; 10.3390/cells8020182.
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/8/2/182

12. “Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Sulforaphane on LPS-Activated Microglia Potentially through JNK/AP-1/NF-κB Inhibition and Nrf2/HO-1 Activation”
Subedi, Lalita et al.
Cells 2019, 8(2), 194; 10.3390/cells8020194.
Available online: https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4409/8/2/194

For further reading, please follow the link to the Editor's Choice Articles website: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/cells/editors_choice.

We are currently recruiting Topical Advisory Panel Members for Cells (ISSN: 2073-4409). These members are mainly responsible for regularly providing support to the Guest Editors and Section Board Members. For more information about the position, please visit the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/editors.

Cells is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal of cell biology, molecular biology, and biophysics, published semi-monthly online by MDPI. As the Spanish Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SEBBM), the Signal Transduction Society (STS), the Nordic Autophagy Society (NAS), the Spanish Society of Hematology and Hemotherapy (SEHH), and the Society for Regenerative Medicine (Russian Federation) (RPO) are in partnership with Cells, their members may receive discounts on Article Processing Charges.

More information about the journal can be found on our homepage: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/cells/about.

To qualify as a Topical Advisory Panel Member, applicants must:

• Have experience in a field or fields related to the journal;
• Have received a Ph.D. in the last 10 years (approximately);
• Have published a minimum of 6–8 papers in the last 5 years, as a first author or corresponding author;
• Currently hold an independent research position in academia or at a government institute.

If you are interested in this position, please apply via the following link: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/cells/topical_advisory_panel_application; alternatively, you may send an email to the Editorial Office (cells@mdpi.com) with your academic CV attached. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

As the Editors-in-Chief of Cells (ISSN: 2073-4409), we are pleased to announce the winners of the “Cells 2021 Best Paper Awards for Anniversary Special Issues”.

One first prize: CHF 1000 and a waiver to publish in Cells after peer review

• “Overexpression of an Agave Phosphoenolpyruvate Carboxylase Improves Plant Growth and Stress Tolerance”
  Degao Liu, Rongbin Hu, Jin Zhang, Hao-Bo Guo, Hua Cheng, Linling Li, Anne M. Borland, Hong Qin, Jin-Gui Chen, Wellington Muchero, Gerald A. Tuskan and Xiaohan Yang
  doi:10.3390/cells10030582

Two second prizes: CHF 800 and CHF 1000 voucher to publish in Cells after peer review

• “Weight Pulling: A Novel Mouse Model of Human Progressive Resistance Exercise”
  Wenyuan G. Zhu, Jamie E. Hibbert, Kuan Hung Lin, Nathaniel D. Steinert, Jake L. Lemens, Kent W. Jorgenson, Sarah M. Newman, Dudley W. Lamming and Troy A. Hornberger
  doi:10.3390/cells10092459
• “Affecting HEK293 Cell Growth and Production Performance by Modifying the Expression of Specific Genes”
  Laura Abaandou, David Quan and Joseph Shiloach
  doi:10.3390/cells10071667

Three third prizes: CHF 500 and CHF 600 voucher to publish in Cells after peer review

• “Comparing Biochemical and Raman Microscopy Analyses of Starch, Lipids, Polyphosphate, and Guanine Pools during the Cell Cycle of Desmodesmus quadricauda”
  Šárka Moudříková, Ivan Nedyalkov Ivanov, Milada Vítová, Ladislav Nedbal, Vilém Zachleder, Peter Mojzeš and Kateřina Bišová
  doi:10.3390/cells10010062
• “Gut Microbiota and Neuroplasticity”
  Julia Murciano-Brea, Martin Garcia-Montes, Stefano Geuna and Celia Herrera-Rincon
  doi:10.3390/cells10082084
• “The Genomic Landscape of Thyroid Cancer Tumourigenesis and Implications for Immunotherapy”
  Amandeep Singh, Jeehoon Ham, Joseph William Po, Navin Niles, Tara Roberts and Cheok Soon Lee
  doi:10.3390/cells10051082

Outstanding contribution prizes: CHF 600 voucher to publish in Cells after peer review

• “An Analysis of the Neurological and Molecular Alterations Underlying the Pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s Disease”
  Chantal Vidal and Li Zhang
  doi:10.3390/cells10030546
• “A Potential Role for HUWE1 in Modulating Cisplatin Sensitivity”
  Stijn Wenmaekers, Bastiaan J. Viergever, Gunjan Kumar, Onno Kranenburg, Peter C. Black, Mads Daugaard and Richard P. Meijer
  doi:10.3390/cells10051262
• “The Role of Prostaglandins in Different Types of Cancer”
  Álvaro Jara-Gutiérrez and Victoriano Baladrón
  doi:10.3390/cells10061487
• “Pentose Phosphate Pathway Reactions in Photosynthesizing Cells”
  Thomas D. Sharkey
  doi:10.3390/cells10061547
• “Positive Regulation of Estrogen Receptor Alpha in Breast Tumorigenesis”
  Lucas Porras, Houssam Ismail and Sylvie Mader
  doi:10.3390/cells10112966
• “Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP): The Better Sibling of PCR?”
  Marianna Soroka, Barbara Wasowicz and Anna Rymaszewska
  doi:10.3390/cells10081931
• “Widespread Alternative Splicing Changes in Metastatic Breast Cancer Cells”
  Jagyeong Oh, Davide Pradella, Changwei Shao, Hairi Li, Namjeong Choi, Jiyeon Ha, Sonia Ruggiero, Xiang-Dong Fu, Xuexiu Zheng, Claudia Ghigna and Haihong Shen
  doi:10.3390/cells10040858
• “Autophagy and Extracellular Vesicles, Connected to rabGTPase Family, Support Aggressiveness in Cancer Stem Cells”
  Aude Brunel, Gaëlle Bégaud, Clément Auger, Stéphanie Durand, Serge Battu, Barbara Bessette and Mireille Verdier
  doi:10.3390/cells10061330
• “Alzheimer and Purinergic Signaling: Just a Matter of Inflammation?”
  Stefania Merighi, Tino Emanuele Poloni, Anna Terrazzan, Eva Moretti, Stefania Gessi, and Davide Ferrari
  doi:10.3390/cells10051267
• “Senescence and Aging: Does It Impact Cancer Immunotherapies?”
  Damien Maggiorani and Christian Beauséjour
  doi:10.3390/cells10071568

On behalf of the assessment committee, we would like to congratulate the winners on their accomplishments. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all the nominated research groups of the aforementioned exceptional papers and for their contributions to the Cells 10th Anniversary Special Issue, and the Award Committee for voting and helping with these awards. 

Dr. Alexander E. Kalyuzhny and Prof. Dr. Cord Brakebusch
Cells Editors-in-Chief

We are pleased to announce the launch of a new initiative, the Special Issue Mentor Program. 

This program intends to provide an opportunity for early career scientists to enhance their editing, networking and organizational skills, and to work closely with our journal to gain more editorial experience. Early career scientists who have novel ideas for new Cells Special Issues will act as Guest Editors under the mentorship of an experienced scientist; this mentor could be a member of the Editorial Board of Cells, or from other well-established research institutes or laboratories, etc. 

If you are interested in this opportunity, please send your Special Issue proposal to the Cells Editorial Office (cells@mdpi.com), and we will discuss the process (i.e., mentor collaboration, Special Issue topic feasibility analysis, etc.) in further detail. 

In addition to the new Special Issue Mentor Program, Cells will continually welcome all Special Issue proposals based on hot research topics as usual.

Cells (ISSN: 2073-4409) is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal of cell biology, molecular biology, and biophysics, published monthly online by MDPI. The Spanish Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SEBBM), Signal Transduction Society (STS), Nordic Autophagy Society (NAS), Spanish Society of Hematology and Hemotherapy (SEHH), and Society for Regenerative Medicine (Russian Federation) (RPO) are affiliated with Cells, and their members receive discounts on the article processing charges. The Cells editorial team is pleased to announce this open call for Special Issue proposals, which gives a group of authors the possibility to work on an interconnected set of papers on an innovative topic. We would like to solicit high-quality proposals that will be evaluated in a competitive procedure on a rolling basis throughout the year.

Proposals for a Special Issue should have a well-articulated unifying topic and reflect, on an international level, on the best work in a particular research area, either an established or an important emerging area, in which future investigations may be boosted by the publication of a set of excellent papers. Hence, an international group of Guest Editors and a few high-quality planned papers are always encouraged when it comes to proposals.

Proposals for Special Issues need to be sent to the Editorial Office (cells@mdpi.com), which will then forward them to the Editor-in-Chief of Cells for evaluation.

Information to be provided in a proposal:

• A 300–500-word summary to rationally explain the significance, novelty, technical advancement, and adherence to the scope of the journal of the proposed topic;
• A few keywords on the topic;
• A plan for obtaining quality papers or a list of at least three planned papers;
• A brief resume of the proposed Guest Editors, together with their information (title, name, email, affiliation, personal website, keywords of interests);
• A proposed submission deadline (we normally run a Special Issue for 8–12 months).

Guest Editor’s role:

• Once the proposal is accepted, the GE will circulate the Call for Papers for the Special Issue and invite submissions;

• The Guest Editor has the opportunity to publish 1 paper free of charge in this Special Issue and invite 10 feature papers to be published with discounts;

• Each submission will undergo a formal peer review process, after which we will ask the GE, the Editor-in-Chief, or a suitable Editorial Board Member to decide whether the paper is acceptable for publication in Cells;
• If five or more papers are published in the Special Issue, the Guest Editor(s) could publish an editorial free of charge;
• If ten or more papers are published in this Special Issue, we can print a Special Issue book and send a hard copy to each Guest Editor.

Editorial Office’s role:

The Editorial Office will take care of setting up the Special Issue website, arrange promotional material, assist with invitations to contribute papers, and take care of administrative tasks associated with peer review, including inviting reviewers, collating reports, contacting authors, and professional production before publication.

Please do not hesitate to contact the Editorial Office if you are interested and would like further details and clarifications.

We look forward to receiving your proposals.

Cells Editorial Office

We are now recruiting reviewers for the journal Cells (ISSN: 2073-4409). If you are an active researcher in the field and are passionate about publishing cutting-edge research, do not hesitate to contact the Cells Editorial Office (cells@mdpi.com).

Cells (ISSN: 2073-4409) is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal of cell biology, molecular biology, and biophysics, published monthly online by MDPI. The Spanish Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (SEBBM), Signal Transduction Society (STS), Nordic Autophagy Society (NAS), Spanish Society of Hematology and Hemotherapy (SEHH), and Society for Regenerative Medicine (Russian Federation) (RPO) are affiliated with Cells, and their members receive discounts on the article processing charges. Cells is indexed in Scopus, SCIE (Web of Science), PubMed, MEDLINE, PMC, CAPlus/SciFinder, and many other databases. The 2020 impact factor is 6.600, and the 5-Year Impact Factor is 6.663.

The benefits of reviewing manuscripts are as follows:

• For each review, you will receive a discount voucher that can be used for reducing the article processing charge (APC) of a future submission to any MDPI journal;
• You will be considered for the journal’s outstanding reviewer award;
• You will receive a personalized reviewer certificate;
• You will have the ability to adjust your review frequency based on your schedule in our system.

If you have any questions, suggestions, or recommendations, do not hesitate to let us know.

We look forward to working with you.

On October 13, 2021, Prof. Suleyman I. Allakhverdiev was honored as one of the 2021 laureates of the “Global Energy” prize in “Non-Conventional Energy” for his outstanding contribution to the development of alternative energy, particularly his design for a system of artificial photosynthesis and his cycle of scientific works on bioenergy and hydrogen energy. The “Global Energy” international energy prize is awarded for outstanding scientific research and scientific–technical developments in the field of energy that promote greater efficiency and environmental security for energy sources on Earth in the interests of all mankind. The “Global Energy” prize stimulates the development of energy in terms of science and underscores the importance of international cooperation as well as public and private investment in the sectors of energy supply, energy saving and energy security. In accordance with data from the IREG Observatory on Academic Ranking and Excellence, the “Global Energy” prize figures in the “Top 99” most prestigious and significant international awards. Since 2003, 45 researchers have become the “Global Energy” prize laureates, representing 15 countries: Australia, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Greece, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Russia, Sweden, Switzerland, the UK, Ukraine and the USA.

It is our great honor to congratulate the Editorial Board Members and Editors in MDPI's journals who have been distinguished as 2021 Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate, according to Web of Science data. We herewith express our gratitude for the immense impact the named researchers continue to make on scientific progress and on our journals' development.

Clarivate's annual list of Highly Cited Researchers^TM identifies the most highly cited scientists for the past decade. Their impactful papers are among the top 1 per cent in the citation distribution of one or more of 22 fields analyzed in the "Essential Science Indicators", distinguishing them as hugely influential among their peers.

The full list of 2021 Highly Cited Researchers  can be accessed at the following webpage in the Web of Science^TM https://recognition.webofscience.com/awards/highly-cited/2021/.

--- Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) is a Clarivate product.