Molecular Mechanisms and Signaling Pathways in Neuroinflammatory Disorders
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pathology, Diagnostics, and Therapeutics".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 November 2025 | Viewed by 1044
Special Issue Editors
2 Groningen Research Institute for Asthma and COPD (GRIAC), University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen, 9713 AV Groningen, The Netherlands
Interests: chronic inflammatory disorders; cyclic nucleotides; Epac; asthma; COPD; fibrosis; alzheimer’s disease; parkinson disease; air pollution
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Cerebral small vessel dysfunction and dementia exhibit an increasing prevalence in the world’s aging population. After Alzheimer’s disease, vascular dementia represents the second most common dementia diagnosis. Interestingly, vascular dementia is also linked to Parkinson’s disease, particularly to vascular Parkinsonism. The major underlying risk factors are metabolic dysfunctions; however, the underlying molecular mechanisms are far from being characterized. Recent evidence points to an intricate interplay of vessel dysfunction, microglia sensing, and blood–brain barrier defects, subsequently worsening both vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s disease. Neuroinflammation and metabolic alterations centered around mitochondria develop as novel unique players in both pathologies. In addition, studies have reported that air pollutant exposure plays a potential role in the development or aggravation of neurodegenerative diseases, pointing to the importance of the lung–brain and nose–brain axis. This Special Issue aims to define the novel mechanisms underpinning the molecular mechanisms leading to the induction of vascular dementia, neuroinflammation, and blood–brain barrier defects in the context of vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s dementia, as well as (vascular) Parkinsonism. We aim for the studies in this Special Issue to focus on providing insights into potential innovative breakthroughs in attempt to find the cause, treatment, and cure. Suitable topics include, but are not limited to, the identification of novel targets to diminish defects in small vessels, defects in the sensing of neuroinflammation, and the decline in both the blood–brain barrier and mitochondria, using pharmacological screening platforms, animal models, organoids, and iPSC-derived brain cells and spatial transcriptomics.
Prof. Dr. Martina Schmidt
Dr. Karim Rafie
Guest Editors
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Keywords
- blood–brain barrier
- inducible pluripotent stem cells
- organoids
- scaffolds
- neuroinflammation
- microglia
- mitochondria
- endothelial cells
- drug screening
- virus infections
- cryo-EM
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