Autophagy, Apoptosis and Cell Cycle Checkpoints in Deregulated Cellular Plasticity
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2025 | Viewed by 73
Special Issue Editor
Interests: cancer biomarkers; cell and molecular biology; antioxidants; drugs; apoptosis-autophagy regulation mechanisms; intrinsic-extrinsic apoptosis pathways; cell cycle; genes and proteins with role in cell cycle regulation; cell cultures; deregulated cellular-phenotypic plasticity; intratumor heterogeneity; autophagy; apoptosis; cell cycle checkpoints
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cell-death escape is important in targeting cancer therapies involving molecular events caused by major apoptotic pathways, including the death receptor pathway (extrinsic) and the mitochondrial pathway (intrinsic). Genetic alterations in the cell proliferation/apoptosis regulation pathways in cancer development suggest an autophagy–apoptosis network. In tumor progression, autophagy pathway deregulation acts as a safeguard mechanism in uncontrolled cell growth restriction, being a protective mechanism against apoptosis. Uncontrolled cellular growth and cell death due to defects in the cell cycle are usually responsible for the development of most of the cancers. The progression of the cell cycle is under many regulatory complex mechanisms influenced by exogenous factors that control the cell cycle at the G1, S, and G2 checkpoints. Most human’s cancers present defects in these checkpoints, making them interesting targets for chemoprevention. Cellular plasticity represents a cell’s ability to switch dynamically and reversibly from one phenotypic state to another. Deregulated cell plasticity is implicated in cancer initiation, progression, metastasis, and therapy resistance in various cancer types. Genetic and epigenetic mechanisms and cell-extrinsic factors such as inflammation, microenvironment, and therapeutic stress can induce cellular plasticity.
In this Special Issue, I invite researchers to present original studies and state-of-the-art reviews about regulation pathways and checkpoints implied in cell death, the cell cycle, and cell plasticity to target cancer therapies.
Dr. Elena Matei
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- autophagy
- apoptosis
- cell cycle
- cell plasticity
- regulation pathways
- checkpoints
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