Autophagy in Stress Responses: From Molecular Mechanisms to Disease Relevance
A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Autophagy".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 May 2026 | Viewed by 13
Special Issue Editors
Interests: cargo hitchhiking autophagy; age-related proteinopathies including TDP-43 and Huntington’s disease; stress granule and P-body formation; secondary cytoplasmic roles of the mediator kinase module
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Autophagy is a highly conserved cellular process essential for maintaining homeostasis under both basal and stress conditions. By capturing, degrading, and recycling damaged organelles, misfolded proteins, and toxic aggregates, autophagy enables cells to adapt to nutrient deprivation, oxidative stress, exercise, and other environmental challenges. In recent years, the molecular mechanisms that regulate autophagy, including selective cargo recognition, membrane dynamics, and the interplay with signaling pathways such as mTOR, AMPK, ubiquitin, and stress granule formation, have become areas of intense investigation. Dysregulation of autophagy has been increasingly linked to human pathologies, ranging from neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases to cancer, infection, and aging. This Special Issue of Cells invites original research and review articles that explore autophagy’s multifaceted roles in stress adaptation and disease. We particularly welcome studies that integrate molecular, cellular, and physiological insights to advance our understanding of how autophagy functions as both a protective and pathological mechanism across biological systems.
Dr. Katrina F. Cooper
Dr. Kleiton Silva
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- autophagy
- stress response
- proteostasis
- mitophagy
- neurodegeneration
- aging
- stress granules
- mTOR signaling
- selective autophagy
- disease models
- exercise
- muscle disorders
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