Ribosome-Inactivating Proteins--Commemorative Issue in Honor of Professor Fiorenzo Stirpe

Dear Colleagues,

Ever since the discovery of the first ribosome-inactivating protein, this group of plant toxins has received a lot of attention from researchers in various disciplines. Ribosome-inactivating proteins have been studied in detail for their distribution in nature, their molecular structure and toxicity, and have been proven as valuable tools in cancer research. Despite the long history of these proteins, new ribosome-inactivating proteins are still being discovered in plants and, recently, also in other kingdoms of life. Current research mainly focuses on the physiological importance of ribosome-inactivating proteins for plant growth and development, as well as their applications in agricultural and medical research.

Fiorenzo Stirpe is Professor Emeritus at the Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, University of Bologna, Italy. He is (co)author of over 280 publications in international journals and several book chapters. Prof. Stirpe is co-editor of one book entitled ‘Ribosome-Inactivating Proteins—Ricin and Related Proteins’. Furthermore, he is holder of 10 patents related to the applicability of ribosome-inactivating proteins and immunotoxins. For his pioneering work related to the study of plant toxins and the preparation of immunotoxins he was offered some prestigious awards and his work has been highly cited (h-index 55) by researchers from various disciplines.

In honor of Professor Fiorenzo Stirpe for his outstanding contribution to research on plant toxins, this commemorative issue of Molecules welcomes submission of previously unpublished manuscripts from original work or reviews on ‘Ribosome-Inactivating Proteins’. We plan to receive submissions from 15 April to 30 September 2016.

Prof. Dr. Els Van Damme
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. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). 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.