STAT3 in Carcinogenesis: Update from 1993 to Present

Dear Colleagues,

Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3) is a 30-year-old protein. Its history begins with a paper published on Molecular and Cellular Biology in 1993. As a pro-inflammatory transcription factor, signal transducer, and transcription activator, it was identified in 1994. STAT3 is a protein with polyhedral activities: it mediates, directly or indirectly, multiple cellular signaling pathways (cytokines of growth factors, hormones, and oxidative stress), is a key protein in the modulation of metabolism and mitochondrial activity, and is involved in the regulation of microtubules dynamics in the cellular cytoskeleton.

Its activation is crucial in various diseases as chronic inflammation, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders, and cancer. In fact, a lot of scientific publications assessed the involvement of STAT3, through both its canonical and non-canonical pathways, in all three phases of carcinogenesis: initiation, promotion, and progression. STAT3 can be considered a moonlighting protein. Its multifaceted activities are mainly ensured by post-translational modifications such as phosphorylation, acetylation, glutathionylation, etc.

This Special Issue aims to review all the scientific advances on the STAT3 protein achieved in the past 30 years focusing on current and future research on the role of the STAT3 protein, its potential inhibitors or modulators in both carcinogenesis and chemoresistance phenomenon.

Moreover, this Special Issue should provide a global and actual vision of STAT3’s cellular and biological functions. We hope that researchers in the field contribute with research articles, review articles, innovative hypotheses, or commentaries on STAT3’s activities and regulations.

Dr. Donatella Romaniello
Dr. Ilaria Marrocco
Dr. Margherita Eufemi
Guest Editors

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• STAT3
• carcinogenesis
• transduction signaling pathways
• post-translational modifications
• interactors
• energy and cellular metabolism
• STAT3 inhibitors