Immune Checkpoints and Autoimmunity — Volume II

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue is the second volume of "Immune Checkpoints and Autoimmunity" and will mainly focus on the pathogenic role of immune checkpoints in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases and the therapeutic potential of modulating immune checkpoints in the abovementioned diseases.

Immune checkpoint molecules have emerged as key regulators of the immune system. They are crucial for self-tolerance but also for the activation of the immune system. To date, most studies have investigated the role of immune checkpoints in cancers, while fewer data are available on autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. The upregulation of inhibitory checkpoint molecules by cancer cells or in the tumor microenvironment can favor cancer cell escape from immune surveillance. Drugs that are able to block the inhibitory checkpoint molecules have shown efficacy in some types of cancers. On the other hand, they are sometimes coupled with the onset of immune-mediated reactions. Once the role of immune checkpoints in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases is defined, drugs and approaches able to modulate such molecules can be used for therapy.

We invite authors to submit original research (basic, translational, and clinical research) and review articles about the deregulation, biological functions, and therapeutic potential of immune checkpoints in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Profiling of inhibitory and stimulatory immune checkpoint molecules in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases;
• Functional studies to dissect the role of immune checkpoint molecules in autoimmune and inflammatory diseases;
• Modulation of immune checkpoints for the therapy of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases;
• Association between checkpoint inhibitor therapy in cancer and autoimmunity
• Differences in the regulation of the expression of immune checkpoint molecules between cancers, autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

Dr. Stefania Croci
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. Biomedicines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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.

• immune checkpoint molecules
• autoimmune diseases
• inflammatory diseases
• checkpoint inhibitor therapy
• inflammation

• Immune Checkpoints and Autoimmunity in Biomedicines (10 articles)