DNA Damage in Neurodegeneration
A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Cellular Neuroscience".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 115
Special Issue Editors
Interests: DNA damage response; non-coding RNA; chromatin modification; DNA repair; cancer; neurodegeneration
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Accumulating evidence implicates DNA damage and defective DNA repair mechanisms as critical drivers of neuronal dysfunction and degeneration in various neurodegenerative disorders. Indeed, high metabolic rate and longevity subject neurons to the accumulation of DNA lesions, which can have detrimental effects on cell viability. Moreover, several proteins mutated in neurodegenerative diseases have now been recognized to be involved in DNA repair. Hence, there is a requirement to characterize the specific sources of genomic stress and the distinct DNA damage response pathways operative in post-mitotic neurons to deliver better insight into neuronal vulnerability and survival. This necessitates the use of relevant cellular and animal models that recapitulate the accumulation of DNA lesions and the consequent cellular pathology observed in neurodegeneration in vivo. The potential of cutting-edge inducible, cell-specific, or gene-modulating therapies targeting DNA damage and RNA metabolism to preserve neuronal integrity in preclinical models remains to be determined.
This Special Issue will examine the identification of endogenous and exogenous sources of DNA damage in neurons; methods to detect and quantify DNA lesions and repair activity in neural cells ex vivo; the effects of aging, oxidative stress, and metabolic dysfunction on genomic stability; neuronal and glial cell culture models for studying DNA damage-induced degeneration; in vitro systems recapitulating the DNA damage landscape of aging brains; and in vivo models to investigate the consequences of impaired DNA repair on neuronal function and survival.
Dr. Francesca Esposito
Dr. Sofia Francia
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- DNA damage
- neurodegeneration
- DNA repair
- oxidative stress
- genomic instability
- neuronal cell death
- aging
- animal models
- cellular senescence
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