The Role of PPARs in Disease - Volume IV

Dear Colleagues,

The first identification of peroxisomes was made in electron microscopic studies in 1954. In the 1970s, peroxisome proliferators were defined as substances that induce peroxisome growth. Later, in the 1990s, the receptors for these substances (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPARs)) were cloned and identified. This is an unusual timeline in terms of drug development strategies, as the ligands were discovered almost 20 years before the receptors.

It is now common knowledge that PPARs belong to the nuclear receptors. They function as ligand-activated transcription factors. There are three isoforms: PPARα, PPARβ/δ and PPARγ. For all PPARs, lipids are endogenous ligands, linking them directly to metabolism. Specific synthetic agonists for all PPARs are available. PPARα and PPARγ agonists are used in clinical practice to treat hyperlipidaemia and type 2 diabetes, respectively. More recently, activation of PPARβ/δ has emerged as a promising novel approach for treating metabolic syndrome and associated cardiovascular diseases. PPARs play important roles in various disorders, including cardiovascular, hepatic, neurological, psychiatric, immunological diseases, and cancer.

We guest-edited the first special issue of Cells, entitled 'The Role of PPARs in Disease', in 2019–2020, followed by the second and third editions in subsequent years. These special issues have published a total of 41 papers on PPAR function, which have obtained over 200,000 views and nearly 1,000 citations to date. These figures demonstrate that Cells has become an important platform for excellent research in the field of PPARs.

We hope that this new special issue of Cells, with the continued support of the scientific community, will be equally or even more successful. This special issue will bring together the most recent and exciting advances in our understanding of the various aspects of PPAR action, from basic science to applied therapeutic approaches.

Dr. Kay-Dietrich Wagner
Dr. Nicole Wagner
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. 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.

• PPAR
• immune function
• liver
• adipose tissue
• cardiovascular system
• muscle
• brain
• neurological disease
• psychiatric diseases
• cancer
• transcriptional regulation
• ligands
• agonists/antagonists

• The Role of PPARs in Disease in Cells (11 articles)
• The Role of PPARs in Disease II in Cells (20 articles)
• The Role of PPARs in Disease - Volume III in Cells (10 articles)