Mechanisms and Therapies of Cell Death Pathways

Dear Colleagues,

We cordially invite you to submit your work to the Special Issue “Mechanisms and Therapies of Cell Death Pathways.”

Cell death is fundamental to development and tissue homeostasis, with its dysregulation underlying diverse pathological conditions ranging from cancer to neurodegeneration. While apoptosis remains a cornerstone of programmed cell death, the expanding landscape of non-apoptotic death mechanisms, including necroptosis, ferroptosis, pyroptosis, and autophagy-dependent cell death, offers unprecedented opportunities for therapeutic intervention. This Special Issue aims to explore mechanisms of and comprehensive strategies targeting both apoptotic and non-apoptotic pathways in disease contexts.

We particularly welcome contributions examining small-molecule modulators and therapeutic strategies that selectively target specific death pathways. BCL-2 family proteins and their regulatory networks remain prime targets, alongside emerging players in non-apoptotic signaling cascades. Manuscripts exploring how mitochondrial networks integrate stress signals to control cell fate are also central to the scope of this issue, as we seek to advance the development of precision therapies.

We invite original research, reviews, and methodological advances covering the following:

• Mitochondrial regulation of cell fate decisions;
• Mechanisms and cross-talk between different cell death modalities;
• Therapeutic targeting of apoptotic and non-apoptotic pathways in disease;
• Small molecule modulators of cell death signaling;
• BCL-2 family targeting strategies;
• Overcoming therapy resistance.

Prof. Dr. Evripidis Gavathiotis
Dr. Deniz Gulfem Ozturk
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. Cells is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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.