Advances in Laboratory Medicine

Dear Colleagues,

Advances in laboratory medicine are yielded by technological breakthroughs and the fast-growing knowledge of the pathogenic mechanisms of disease. New technologies, including next-generation sequencing (NGS), single-cell RNA sequencing, circulating DNA identification tools and many others, can be used to simultaneously identify several genes and proteins in tissues and blood.

Our understanding of the molecular and biochemical processes underlying the onset and progression of many diseases has allowed the development of diagnostic and prognostic tools in these disorders. Several tests have been developed on the basis of recent insights in the field of neurology, cardiology, or infection, making the diagnosis of certain pathologies easier and preventing the onset of fatal complications. Notably, in some diseases (e.g., acute coronary syndrome (ACS)), biomarkers with high predictive value (e.g., cardiac troponin) can be used to identify patients at higher risk of developing myocardial infarction across two years. The use of tests with high predictive value could avoid the onset of major events and death in specific patients and settings.

Biomarkers not only serve in the clinical management of disease, but are also the starting point on the path toward the development of effective treatment. Indeed, mapping the molecular and biochemical signatures of tissues and cells leads to the identification of potential targets for therapeutic approach. The case of Alzheimer’s disease is emblematic; it was treated for two decades without success based on the old amyloid cascade theory, since the amyloid-inflammatory cascade theory was totally unexplored at that time. This is the case of many other diseases, including cancer, stroke and myocardial infarction.

This Special Issue aims to collect original research articles and reviews reporting insights in the field of advanced laboratory technology applied to the diagnosis, prognosis and treatment of high-burden diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, cancers and ACS, and generally to those diseases lacking powerful identification tools and effective therapeutic strategies.

Dr. Giulia Bivona
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 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. Diagnostics 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 2600 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.

• laboratory tests
• laboratory technology
• biomarkers
• treatments targets
• Alzheimer’s disease
• cancers
• ACS
• NGS
• single-cell RNA sequencing
• proteomics