Role of Reverse Transcriptase in Aging and Age-Related Disease
A Special Issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409) belonging to the section "Cellular Aging".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 184
Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Reverse transcriptase (RT) plays a complex role in aging: it is necessary for basic cell function (e.g., telomere maintenance) but its dysregulation has been continually implicated in disease progression, largely related to DNA damage and inflammation. As we make strides in understanding the mechanisms that underpin RT activity in aging and age-related disease, findings ways to therapeutically target these processes is important in mitigating disease and extending the human healthspan. As such, there is interest in repurposing existing drugs to develop novel candidates with anti-aging effects. Recent research has focused on the protective effects of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), but their mechanisms and outcomes are incompletely understood.
We are pleased to invite you to contribute to our Special Issue, “Role of Reverse Transcriptase in Aging and Age-Related Disease”, which will highlight innovative research (including clinical research) and current advancements in the field of RT and NRTIs. Original research articles and reviews are welcome.
Research areas may include (but are not limited to) RT and/or NRTIs in the context of
- Cellular senescence;
- DNA damage;
- Inflammation, interferon signaling, and/or oxidative stress;
- Mitochondrial dysfunction;
- Epigenetic regulation;
- Telomere maintenance or shortening;
- Neurodegenerative disease;
- Cancer progression;
- Methods for quantifying RT activity and/or identifying targets.
I look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Shelby Osburn
Guest Editor
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 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-anonymized 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.
Keywords
- aging
- age-related disease
- reverse transcriptase
- NRTI
- anti-aging
- DNA damage
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