The Role of Apoptosis in Tissue Homeostasis, Malignancies, and Disease Pathogenesis

Dear Colleagues,

Apoptosis is a hallmark physiological process that normally occurs during the cell life in response to a wide variety of stimuli and conditions necessary during the tissue development, remodeling, and homeostasis. Apoptotic cells undergo morphological alteration, leading to the formation of apoptotic bodies which are cleared by scavenger cells.

Intrinsic and extrinsic stresses may induce apoptosis. Intrinsic stresses such as oncogene expression, DNA damage, hypoxia and metabolic deprivation may trigger the p53 pathway with caspase activation and the release of apoptogenic factors from damaged mitochondria. Extrinsic stresses activate members of the TNF family including Fas, Fas-L, and TRAIL receptors systems, and can be also driven by insults from cytotoxic drugs, radiation and pro-apoptotic granzymes.

In this context, autophagy is a fundamental process that guarantees the regeneration of cells which have undergone stress or poor nutrient conditions. Therefore, the crosstalk between autophagy and apoptosis also influences cell fate.

Apoptotic pathways are widely are often found to be missing or altered in neoplastic cells. The mutation of the p53 pathway and the lack of caspase activity are the major modifications found in human malignancies. Further evidence suggests p53-dependent apoptosis in neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis disease and during the cell death of the neural and vascular cells of the retina in diabetic retinopathy. Apoptosis is also a hallmark checkpoint for the development of autoimmunity, where the dysregulated elimination of cells may also contribute to systemic autoimmune diseases e.g., multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and psoriasis.

This Special Issue aims to provide a platform for the collection of original research and review articles that investigate the role of apoptosis in health and disease. The final goal is to increase our knowledge of the apoptotic process and to improve available therapeutic options to overcome disease progression.

Research areas may include (but are not limited to) preclinical investigations into cell death molecular mechanisms, aspects of cell biology during the apoptotic process, and apoptosis induction after pharmacological treatments including drug delivery systems, in addition to clinical investigations into oncological, neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases.

Dr. Fabio Casciano
Dr. Rebecca Voltan
Dr. Arianna Romani
Guest Editors

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• apoptosis
• cell death
• p53 pathway
• autophagy
• caspase
• mitochondria
• neurodegeneration
• inflammation
• drug discovery
• cancer
• targeted anticancer therapy
• autoimmunity
• nanodelivery