Announcements

“Bottom-Up Approaches to Synthetic Cooperation in Microbial Communities”
Daniel Rodríguez Amor and Martina Dal Bello
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life9010022

“Synthetic Approaches for Nucleic Acid Delivery: Choosing the Right Carriers”
Rong Ni et al.
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life9030059

“Synthetic Biology for Terraformation Lessons from Mars, Earth, and the Microbiome”
Nuria Conde-Pueyo et al.
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10020014

“TCA Cycle Replenishing Pathways in Photosynthetic Purple Non-Sulfur Bacteria Growing with Acetate”
Ekaterina Petushkova et al.
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life11070711

“Analysis of the Innovation Trend in Cell-Free Synthetic Biology”
Conary Meyer et al.
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life11060551

“Exploring the Impact of Terminators on Transgene Expression in Chlamydomonas reinhardtii with a Synthetic Biology Approach”
Katrin Geisler et al.
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life11090964

“Build-a-Cell: Engineering a Synthetic Cell Community”
Caroline Frischmon et al.
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life11111176

“The Future of Origin of Life Research: Bridging Decades-Old Divisions”
Martina Preiner et al.
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10030020

“Aptamers, Riboswitches, and Ribozymes in S. cerevisiae Synthetic Biology”
Huanhuan Ge and Mario Andrea Marchisio
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life11030248

“Synthetic Biology Approaches to Engineer Saccharomyces cerevisiae towards the Industrial Production of Valuable Polyphenolic Compounds”
João Rainha et al.
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10050056

“Novel Methylation Patterns Predict Outcomes in Uveal Melanoma”
Sarah Tadhg Ferrier et al.
Life 2020, 10, 248; 10.3390/life9030067
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10100248

“Treatment of Advanced Melanoma: Past, Present, and Future”
Taku Fujimura et al.
Life 2020, 10, 208; 10.3390/life10090208
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10090208

“SOX11, SOX10, and MITF Gene Interaction: A Possible Diagnostic Tool in Malignant Melanoma”
Marius-Alexandru Beleaua et al.
Life 2021, 11, 281; 10.3390/life11040281
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life11040281

“Long-Term Maintained Response to Selective Internal Radiation Therapy in an Oligometastatic Uveal Melanoma Patient Treated with Concomitant Anti-PD-1 Therapy”
Ilaria Proietti et al.
Life 2021, 11, 692; 10.3390/life11070692
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life11070692

“Potential Reasons for Unresponsiveness to Anti-PD1 Immunotherapy in Young Patients with Advanced Melanoma”
Devayani Machiraju et al.
Life 2021, 11, 1318; 10.3390/life11121318
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life11121318

“Cancer Stem Cells in Head and Neck Metastatic Malignant Melanoma Express Components of the Renin–Angiotensin System”
Sam Siljee et al.
Life 2020, 10, 268; 10.3390/life10110268
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10110268

“Ephrin Receptors (Eph): EphA1, EphA5, and EphA7 Expression in Uveal Melanoma—Associations with Clinical Parameters and Patient Survival”
Malgorzata Gajdzis et al.
Life 2020, 10, 225; 10.3390/life10100225
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10100225

“Chromosomal Instability May Not Be a Predictor for Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors from a Comprehensive Bioinformatics Analysis”
Chiao-En Wu et al.
Life 2020, 10, 276; 10.3390/life10110276
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10110276

“Hippo Signaling Pathway as a New Potential Target in Non-Melanoma Skin Cancers: A Narrative Review”
Igor Aleksander Bednarski et al.
Life 2021, 11, 680; 10.3390/life11070680
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life11070680

“Structure, Activity, and Function of the SETDB1 Protein Methyltransferase”
Mariam Markouli et al.
Life 2021, 11, 817; 10.3390/life11080817
Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life11080817

Conference name: 8^th European Stroke Organisation Conference (ESOC)

Conference website: https://2022.eso-conference.org/

Date: 4–6 May 2022

Venue: Lyon, France

ESOC 2022, taking place 4–6 May 2022, is Europe’s leading forum, and indeed a leading forum worldwide for advances in research and clinical care of patients with cerebrovascular diseases. ESOC 2022 will live up to its expectation, and present to you a packed, high-quality scientific program, including major clinical trials, state-of-the-art seminars, educational workshops, scientific communications of the latest research, and debates about current controversies and dilemmas.

1. "Interaction of Oxidative Stress and Misfolded Proteins in the Mechanism of Neurodegeneration"
Abramov, A.Y.; Potapova, E.V.; Dremin, V.V. and Dunaev, A.V.
https://doi.org/10.3390/life10070101

2. "Amyloidogenic Intrinsically Disordered Proteins: New Insights into Their Self-Assembly and Their Interaction with Membranes"
Scollo, F. and La Rosa, C.
https://doi.org/10.3390/life10080144

3. "Optimization of Molecular Dynamics Simulations of c-MYC^1-88—An Intrinsically Disordered System"
Sullivan, S.S. and Weinzierl, R.O.J.
https://doi.org/10.3390/life10070109

4. "The Conformational Plasticity Vista of PDZ Domains"
Murciano-Calles, J.
https://doi.org/10.3390/life10080123

5. "Functional Mammalian Amyloids and Amyloid-Like Proteins"
Rubel, M.S.; Fedotov, S.A.; Grizel, A.V.; Sopova, J.V.; Malikova, O.A.; Chernoff, Y.O. and Rubel, A.A.
https://doi.org/10.3390/life10090156

1. “Universal Molecular Triggers of Stress Responses in Cyanobacterium Synechocystis”

Kirill S. Mironovet al.

Life 2019, 9, 67; 10.3390/life9030067

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life9030067

2. “On the Role and Production of Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) in the Cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. PCC 6803”

Moritz Koch et al.

Life 2020, 10, 47; 10.3390/life10040047

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10040047

3. “Diurnal Regulation of In Vivo Localization and CO2-Fixing Activity of Carboxysomes in Synechococcus elongatus PCC 7942”

Yaqi Sun et al.

Life 2020, 10, 169; 10.3390/life10090169

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10090169

4. “Over Expression of the Cyanobacterial Pgr5-Homologue Leads to Pseudoreversion in a Gene Coding for a Putative Esterase in Synechocystis 6803”

Ketty Margulis et al.

Life 2020, 10, 174; 10.3390/life10090174

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10090174

5. “The Role of the Cyanobacterial Type IV Pilus Machinery in Finding and Maintaining a Favourable Environment”

Fabian D. Conradi et al.

Life 2020, 10, 252; 10.3390/life10110252

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10110252

6. “Rapid Transcriptional Reprogramming Triggered by Alteration of the Carbon/Nitrogen Balance Has an Impact on Energy Metabolism in Nostoc sp. PCC 7120”

Marius Surleac et al.

Life 2020, 10, 297; 10.3390/life10110297

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10110297

7. “Genome Editing by CRISPR-Cas: A Game Change in the Genetic Manipulation of Chlamydomonas”

Manel Ghribi et al.

Life 2020, 10, 295; 10.3390/life10110295

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10110295

8. “Arsenolipids in Cultured Picocystis Strain ML and Their Occurrence in Biota and Sediment from Mono Lake, California”

Ronald A. Glabonjat et al.

Life 2020,10, 93; 10.3390/life10060093

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10060093

9. “Diatom-Derived Polyunsaturated Aldehydes Are Unlikely to Influence the Microbiota Composition of Laboratory-Cultured Diatoms”

Chloe L. Eastabrook et al.

Life 2020, 10, 29; 10.3390/life10030029

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10030029

10. “Rapid and Efficient Colony-PCR for High Throughput Screening of Genetically Transformed Chlamydomonas reinhardtii”

Serge Basile Nouemssi et al.

Life 2020, 10, 186; 10.3390/life10090186

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10090186

It is our great honor to congratulate the Editorial Board Members and Editors in MDPI's journals who have been distinguished as 2021 Highly Cited Researchers by Clarivate, according to Web of Science data. We herewith express our gratitude for the immense impact the named researchers continue to make on scientific progress and on our journals' development.

Clarivate's annual list of Highly Cited Researchers^TM identifies the most highly cited scientists for the past decade. Their impactful papers are among the top 1 per cent in the citation distribution of one or more of 22 fields analyzed in the "Essential Science Indicators", distinguishing them as hugely influential among their peers.

The full list of 2021 Highly Cited Researchers  can be accessed at the following webpage in the Web of Science^TM https://recognition.webofscience.com/awards/highly-cited/2021/.

--- Highly Cited Researchers (HCR) is a Clarivate product.

We are pleased to announce that the winner of the Life 2021 PHD Thesis Award is Dr. Brayon Fremin. Dr. Soukaina El Amrani Zerrifi and Dr. Carina Isabel Coelho Proença are honorable mentions.

Dr. Brayon Fremin is from Stanford University, USA. In his Ph.D. thesis, Dr. Fremin developed original ideas and methods for profiling RNA expression in the microbiome. The results—generated by concepts developed independently by Dr. Fremin himself while he was a Ph.D. student—are attracting considerable attention (> 100 citations) after being published in the most well-reputed journals. The procedures used were highly original, and identification of what genes are expressed and novel open reading frames of the microbiome should have a huge impact on understanding how the microbiome influences many disease states. His advisor, Dr. Bhatt, states “I have never met a more creative and pioneering translational scientist in my entire career”. We look forward to reading about Dr. Fremin’s many scientific accomplishments to come.

Dr. Soukaina El Amrani Zerrifi, from Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco, is recognized for her outstanding accomplishments and the impact of her work on the environment and bio-technological development of her country. In her thesis work, she isolated and identified multiple products from both seaweeds and bacteria that hold great potential for combatting cyanobacterial blooms, which represent a major ecological and environmental threat in many marine ecosystems. Her work has already been highly cited, and her advisor, Dr. Oudra, stated that she has “enormous potential to excel in research”.

Dr. Carina Isabel Coelho Proença, from University of Porto, Portugal, is recognized for her impressive productivity and impact within the field, as reflected by over 190 citations of publications arising from her Ph.D. work. Her research investigated the potential application of flavonoids targeting several diabetes-related enzymes as novel therapeutics. By means of systematic characterization, and sophisticated computational approaches, followed up by experimental validation, the study identified specific aspects of flavonoid structure that can enable differential targeting of five different enzymes which are central to diabetes. This large body of work generated nine highly cited papers with Dr. Proença as lead author. Her advisor, Dr. Fernandes, praised the “enthusiasm, commitment, hard work, and intellectual rigor” displayed throughout her doctoral studies.

As the awardee, Dr. Brayon Fremin will receive an honorarium of CHF 800, while all three of Dr. Brayon Fremin, Dr. Soukaina El Amrani Zerrifi and Dr. Carina Isabel Coelho Proença will have the opportunity to publish one paper free of charge before 31 December 2023 in Life, after peer review.

We want to thank all the excellent Ph.D. students who applied for this award as their brilliant CVs made the choice very difficult. We would also like to thank all of the Award Committee Members for their thorough evaluation of the applications.

1. “Self-Reported Real-World Safety and Reactogenicity of COVID-19 Vaccines: A Vaccine Recipient Survey”

Alexander G. Mathioudakis et al.

Life 2021, 11, 249; 10.3390/life11030249

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life11030249

2. “Seroprevalence of Antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 among the Personnel and Students of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece: A Preliminary Report”

Ourania E. Tsitsilonis et al.

Life 2020, 10, 214; 10.3390/life10090214

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10090214

3. “One-Seventh of Patients with COVID-19 Had Olfactory and Gustatory Abnormalities as Their Initial Symptoms: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis”

Hsin Chi et al.

Life 2020, 10, 158; 10.3390/life10090158

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10090158

4. “The Microbiota/Host Immune System Interaction in the Nose to Protect from COVID-19”

Arianna Di Stadio et al.

Life 2020, 10, 345; 10.3390/life10120345

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10120345

5. “Investigation of Genetic Variations of IL6 and IL6R as Potential Prognostic and Pharmacogenetics Biomarkers: Implications for COVID-19 and Neuroinflammatory Disorders”

Claudia Strafella et al.

Life 2020, 10, 351; 10.3390/life10120351

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10120351

6. “Molecular Epidemiology Analysis of SARS-CoV-2 Strains Circulating in Romania during the First Months of the Pandemic”

Marius Surleac et al.

Life 2020, 10, 152; 10.3390/life10080152

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life10080152

7. “Previous Humoral Immunity to the Endemic Seasonal Alphacoronaviruses NL63 and 229E Is Associated with Worse Clinical Outcome in COVID-19 and Suggests Original Antigenic Sin”

Daniele Focosi et al.

Life 2021, 11, 298; 10.3390/life11040298

Available online: https://doi.org/10.3390/life11040298

8. “Long-Term SARS-CoV-2 Infection Associated with Viral Dissemination in Different Body Fluids Including Bile in Two Patients with Acute Cholecystitis”

Rossana Scutari et al.

Life 2020,10, 302; 10.3390/life10110302