Signal Transduction to Transcription Factors in Health and Disease—Honorary Special Issue Commemorating the Work of Prof. Athanasios G. Papavassiliou

Dear Colleagues,

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the publication of Professor Athanasios G. Papavassiliou’s seminal papers on the proto-oncogene products/components of the AP-1 transcription factor, c-Jun and c-Fos (Science 258(5090):1941-4, 1992; Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 89(23):11562-5, 1992; EMBO J 14(9):2014-19, 1995; N Engl J Med 332(1):45-7, 1995), where he elucidated crucial aspects of their transcriptional activity and introduced the concept of ‘intramolecular signal transduction’.

These mechanistic papers inspired the interest of many scientists to explore the functional elements and the biological roles of transcription factors and investigate their regulation as well as their implication in a broad spectrum of human pathophysiologies.

Over the past 30 years, intensive research has unraveled the structural diversity and multifaceted action of transcription factors as key control elements of mammalian gene expression and signal transduction outcome in health and disease, establishing the field of molecular medicine. Professor Papavassiliou remained on the forefront of these efforts, and pioneered, among others, some of the functions of transcription factors AP-1, Cbfa1 (Runx2), E2F-1, NF-κB, and STAT-3, such as their involvement in cell differentiation, cell metabolism, mechanotransduction, and tumorigenesis, highlighting their potential to be used for the design of novel small-molecule selective drugs to treat a wide gamut of human maladies.

This Special Issue is focused on the role of transcription factors (and their co-factors) in various cells and tissues in health and disease. These roles include an intricate array of gene expression modulatory effects and their impact on the development and progression of endocrine, cardiovascular, respiratory, gastrointestinal, nervous, and immune system disorders and malignancies.

The Special Issue begins with a brief overview of Professor Papavassiliou’s contributions to the field, followed by original research and review articles on the molecular mechanisms underpinning the function of transcription factors in normal cell physiology and the diseased state.

Prof. Dr. Christina Piperi
Dr. George D. Kalliolias
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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. Biomolecules is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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.