Recent Developments in the Biology of Extracellular or Cell-Free DNA, 2nd Edition
A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2025 | Viewed by 1034
Special Issue Editor
Interests: extracellular mitochondrial DNA; endogenous and exogenous deoxyribonuclease; trauma-induced immunomodulation; neutrophil extracellular traps; the role of neutrophil activation in rheumatoid arthritis
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Following a very successful first edition, we are pleased to announce the launch of the second edition of this Special Issue entitled “Recent Developments in the Biology of Extracellular or Cell-Free DNA, 2nd Edition”.
Extracellular DNA (EcDNA) is often called cell-free DNA; however, in vivo, it is everything but cell-free. It interacts with various immunocompetent cells and eventually induces inflammation. Inflammation, especially the activation of neutrophils, leads to the release of ecDNA and more inflammation. While the diagnostic applications for non-invasive prenatal screening and for cancer screening are moving towards use in clinical routine, the biology of ecDNA is still understudied. In plasma, DNA from both nuclei and mitochondria contributes to the whole ecDNA pool, although they differ in their stability, fragment length, and also immunogenicity. Recent advances in epigenetic analyses have enabled the possibility of revealing the tissues or cell types that contribute to plasma ecDNA. However, many questions remain unsolved. What is the fate and what are the effects of ecDNA protected by histones, antimicrobial peptides, or other positively charged molecules? Is mitochondrial DNA quickly cleared by deoxyribonucleases or does it contribute to the effects of extracellular mitochondria as a damage-associated molecular pattern? Does the fragmentation of ecDNA affect its immunogenicity? What are the effects of degradation products of ecDNA cleavage?
We invite contributions in the form of reviews, research articles, communications, and concept papers.
Dr. Peter Celec
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- neutrophil extracellular traps
- DNase
- toll-like receptor 9
- exosomes
- autoimmunity
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