Z-DNA and Z-RNA: From Physical Structure to Biological Function

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue will commemorate a half-century of discoveries related to the left-handed Z conformations of DNA and RNA. Such innovations are represented by a wide range of disciplines. Starting with the crystallization of Z-DNA in 1979, biophysical and biochemical studies have yielded many unanticipated and fascinating insights into this class of higher energy nucleic acid conformations.

Recent discoveries of biological functions for left-handed Z-conformations have demonstrated important roles in immunity against infectious agents and cancers. More generally, research on Z conformations underscore the impact of alternative DNA and RNA conformations in both normal cellular function and disease. They further emphasize that regulatory information is encoded by structure in addition to sequence.

This joint Special Issue between two flagship MDPI journals—Molecules and the International Journal of Molecular Sciences—intends to summarize the status of Z-DNA and Z-RNA research. With this collection, we aim to help build collaborations across the many disciplines that study these conformations and their implications in biology.

We invite authors to help develop a roadmap to guide future discoveries by submitting a review at the leading edge of their respective fields, to either Molecules or IJMS, according to their preference as well as journal aims and scopes.

More on recent Z-related research at the virtual ABZ2022 meeting on September 7, 2022; free registration at abz.bio.

Dr. Alan Herbert
Dr. Maria S. Poptsova
Dr. Beat Vögeli
Dr. Quentin Vicens
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.

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-anonymized 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.