Protein Kinase C Signalling in Health and Disease: A Commemorative Issue in Honor of Prof. Yasutomi Nishizuka

Dear Colleagues,

Dr. Yasutomi Nishizuka was President and Professor Emeritus of Kobe University, Kobe, Japan. He became famous by discovering a novel protein kinase that requires membrane phospholipids and Ca+2 ions. He named it protein kinase C (PKC). Dr. Nishizuka’s study focused on various research areas, including protein synthesis and phosphorylation, tryptophan metabolism, and ADP-ribosylation. Nishizuka’s research group found that diacylglycerol, a novel second messenger generated by receptor-stimulated phosphatidylinositol hydrolysis, effectively activates PKC. This sustained activation involves long-term physiological responses such as cell proliferation and differentiation. It was also discovered that PKC is the target of phorbol ester. It has soon become clear that upon receptor stimulation, various lipids in the membranes are metabolized to generate various lipid mediators, which may participate in the activation and translocation of specific PKC subtypes.

This research laid the foundation for an enormous number of studies on the complex PKC family, many of them orginating from Nishizuka's group. The discovery of PKC contributed significantly to understanding PKC-mediated signaling, as mentioned above, and establishing the importance of lipids in signal transduction. The activity of PKC family members is precisely controlled, and they finely balance cell survival with cell death pathways. Thus, their deregulation is associated with various diseases, including metabolic disorders, cancer, and neurodegeneration.

This Commemorative Special Issue seeks to honor the great researcher Dr. Yasutomi Nishizuka and his contribution to understanding the dynamic aspects of normal and pathological cell control. We solicit contributions in the form of original research articles and reviews describing the role of protein kinase C (PKC) isozymes in cellular processes such as apoptosis, autophagy, migration, and proliferation, as well as their involvement in various diseases, including metabolic disorders, cancer, and neurodegeneration.

Dr. Aleksandra Romaniuk-Drapała
Dr. Ewa Totoń
Guest Editors

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• novel signaling mechanisms
• cell metabolism
• omnics/signaling
• immunity
• cancer
• neurobiology