Regulated Cell Death – Mechanisms and Biological Implications

Dear Colleagues,

While the term apoptosis to describe programmed cell death first entered the scientific literature in 1972, the process of cell death in physiologic settings was largely considered passive and unregulated, with apoptosis being the only known example of a defined cell death ‘program’. However, over the past 15 years, there have been considerable advancements in our understanding of cell death, including the discovery of novel pathways governing distinct cell death modalities. Within organisms, cells that are exposed to extreme physicochemical or mechanical stressors undergo uncontrollable structural breakdown referred to as “accidental cell death” (ACD). Conversely, “regulated cell death” (RCD) is now known to encompass a number of processes, including apoptosis but also other forms of cell death. These involve specific signaling cascades and molecularly defined effector mechanisms leading to different types of cell demise that can be modulated pharmacologically or genetically. RCD is thus implicated not only in fundamental processes such as organogenesis and tissue remodeling, removal of unnecessary structures or cells, and regulation of cell numbers. RCD can also be triggered by exogenous perturbations of the intracellular or extracellular microenvironment when the adaptive processes that respond to stress fail. Emerging RCD modalities that have been recognized include necroptosis, parthanatos, pyroptosis, ferroptosis, and NETosis.

The recent breakthroughs in the study of cell death have sparked an unprecedented interest in this field of research. The Cells journal is therefore issuing a call for papers for a Special Issue on the topic of “Regulated Cell Death—Mechanisms and Biological Implications” and encourages the submission of primary research papers. In that context, the journal welcomes original research contributions advancing our understanding of the basic mechanisms leading to different types of cell death, discovery of biomarkers and assays for the definition of different cell death modalities, and implications of RCD in diverse biological or pathological contexts. High-quality review articles exploring specific aspects of the cell death field will be also considered.

Interested authors are advised to send a short summary or prospectus to the journal before submitting a manuscript. The submission of the summaries will begin on 7^th June 2021 and will close on 31^st October 2021. Upon review, corresponding authors will be contacted via e-mail in regard to the status of their submissions and next steps.

Dr. Enrico Radaelli
Dr. Igor E. Brodsky
Guest Editors

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