Molecular Signatures of Environmental Toxicants in One Health: Implications for Biodiversity, Animal and Human Health
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Toxicology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 October 2026 | Viewed by 24
Special Issue Editors
Interests: environmental toxicology; experimental toxicology; epidemiology; experimental models
Interests: oral biology; pharmacology; molecular toxicology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The Anthropocene is characterized by unprecedented environmental transformations driven by human activities, leading to complex and widespread exposure to environmental toxicants. In this context, understanding how these stressors impact biological systems across different levels of organization has become a major scientific challenge. The One Health framework, which integrates environmental, animal, and human health, offers a powerful conceptual basis to address these issues by promoting interdisciplinary and multi-level approaches. Environmental contaminants, including potentially toxic elements and other emerging pollutants, can induce a wide range of biological responses, from molecular alterations at the genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic levels to functional impairments affecting organisms, populations, and entire ecosystems. Bridging these scales is essential to better understand the mechanisms underlying toxicity and their broader ecological and health implications.
This Special Issue aims to gather high-quality original research articles and critical reviews that explore the effects of environmental toxicants within a One Health perspective, integrating molecular, organismal, and ecological levels of analysis. The topic is highly relevant to the scope of the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, as it emphasizes mechanistic insights into biological responses to environmental stressors, while also extending these findings to ecotoxicological and biodiversity-related outcomes. By connecting molecular toxicology with broader environmental and health contexts, this Special Issue seeks to advance integrative and translational approaches in the field.
In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews (both systematic and non-systematic, provided they offer critical and conceptual advances) are welcome. Research areas may include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Molecular mechanisms of toxicity (genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics, and related approaches);
- Oxidative stress, cellular signaling, and biochemical responses to environmental contaminants;
- Potentially toxic elements (e.g., mercury, lead, cadmium), polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pesticides and agrochemicals, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, industrial pollutants, environmental metabolites and transformation products, as well as other emerging contaminants;
- Bioaccumulation, biomagnification, and trophic transfer of toxicants, besides transgenerational repercussions in experimental models;
- Ecotoxicological impacts on biodiversity and population dynamics;
- Development and validation of molecular biomarkers of exposure and effect;
- Environmental biomonitoring strategies;
- Use of bioindicator and sentinel species in contamination assessment;
- Systematic reviews conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines, as well as critical narrative reviews with strong analytical perspectives;
- Observational studies, including cross-sectional (descriptive and analytical) and longitudinal designs;
- Experimental studies using animal models to investigate mechanisms of toxicity and health outcomes;
- Ecotoxicological studies addressing contaminant effects across different levels of biological organization;
- Metagenomics and environmental DNA approaches for biodiversity assessment and biomonitoring.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Dr. Leonardo Bittencourt
Dr. Rafael R. Lima
Guest Editors
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.
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Keywords
- one health
- omics
- environmental toxicology
- ecotoxicology
- anthropocene
- biodiversity
- molecular biomarkers
- bioindicators and sentinel species
- environmental biomonitoring
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