Soft Tissue Mineralization: Mechanisms, Diseases and Prevention
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: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 3621
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Physiological extracellular matrix mineralization concerns bone, teeth and otoconia. Ectopic calcification of soft tissues and vasculature is, on the other hand, associated with aging, rare genetic disorders, common metabolic diseases or results from the use of pharmaceuticals. Many aspects of pathological calcification are an active area of research including the type of cells involved, the calcification timeline, the cellular pathways, the interactions between the mineral and the surrounding tissue and the relationships of these factors with disease progression.
Several environmental and genetic factors contributing to the calcification have been identified and studies in mouse knock out models have shown that ectopic calcification is under the control of local and systemic calcification inhibitors.
The current view is that the regulation of ectopic/pathological calcification is a multifactorial process that includes phenotypic cell transition to an osteo-chondroblastic phenotype and an imbalance in the regulatory mechanisms that induce or prevent calcification.
At present very limited pharmaceutical strategies exist to inhibit soft tissue calcification. The development of effective therapies and biomarkers to predict the progression of the calcification event are thus main challenges. Knowledge coming from the deep characterization of the molecular pathways involved in human pathologies as well as the development of new animal models will be very helpful.
We invite investigators to contribute original research and review articles that will highlight the pathogenetic mechanisms of the calcification diseases, propose potential therapeutic and preventive targets and identify biomarkers to predict the development of the disease.
Dr. Renata Kozyraki
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- calcification
- pathologic
- chronic disease
- rare disease
- mouse model
- biomarker
- treatment
