25th Anniversary of IJMS: Updates and Advances in “Molecular Immunology”

Dear Colleagues,

The global environment presents new challenges to the immune system, including exposure to the unusual pathogens and significant lifestyle changes, such as an unhealthy diet, low physical activity and increased chronic stress. Under these conditions, the immune system may be unable to combat both exogenous pathogens and endogenous dangers, including metabolic factors and transformed cells. However, our growing knowledge of the molecular mechanisms and different immune cell types and subpopulations that control both innate and adaptive immunity has led to the development of efficient immunotherapeutic molecular and cellular therapies, such as CAR T cells and immune checkpoint inhibitors, which have been translated into clinical practice. At the same time, the application of these tools and their subsequent failure in a number of clinical trials have exposed new levels of complexity in the molecular interactions that control the interaction of immune cells with other cell types in tissues and in the circulation.

Our Special Issue focuses on the identification of key molecular levels and mechanisms at which targets for the therapeutic immunity manipulation can be identified. These levels and mechanisms include the genetic, epigenetic, signaling, protein network; metabolic pathways; and membrane biogenesis levels. The Issue also identifies the bottlenecks where these levels merge and interact. 

We hereby extend an invitation for the submission of research pertaining to the molecular mechanisms that define healthy and pathological functions of immunity. We welcome submissions that address these mechanisms at the fundamental, translational and clinical levels. Our research is particularly focused on the molecular and cellular mechanisms of immunity in cancer, cardiometabolic and autoimmune disorders, neurodegeneration, regenerative medicine and reproductive biology. While these fields represent a primary area of interest, our research is not limited to these areas.

Prof. Dr. Julia Kzhyshkowska
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 short 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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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.