Progress in the Field of Aldehyde Dehydrogenase (ALDH) Researches

Dear Colleagues,

Research on the role of aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs) is constantly evolving and continues to provide our scientific community with numerous interesting results regrading both their physiological and pathological roles. ALDHs comprise a superfamily of NAD(P⁺)-dependent isoforms characterized by distinctive subcellular localization and playing a crucial role in a wide spectrum of biological functions. Besides catalyzing the irreversible oxidation of both aliphatic and aromatic aldehydes, thus exerting a detoxifying role, ALDHs are in charge of the synthesis of retinoic acid, a key mediator for cell proliferation and differentiation, and affect vitality, self-renewing, and expansion of embryonal tissues and cells, showing a stem-like phenotype. The clinical importance of the ALDHs is evidenced from human phenotypes directly linked to mutations in ALDH genes, leading to the absence, deficiency or inactivation of ALDH proteins. In addition, multiple disease states are associated with ALDH dysfunction, including many cancers, metabolic diseases and neurological abnormalities. They also have structural roles in the eye, as crystallins, and serve as binding molecules to endobiotics and xenobiotics, including androgens, cholesterol, and thyroid hormone. Alterations in ALDHs expression and functioning are at the molecular basis of several pathological conditions. Actually, experimental evidence at the genetic, transcriptomic and protein levels suggests the involvement of these enzymes in carcinogenesis and neurodegeneration, including Parkinson´s and Alzheimer´s diseases. The significant physio-pathological role of the ALDHs superfamily, stimulating lively and evolving investigational studies, justifies this Special Issue, which is thought of as a forum to bring together a collection of original research articles, reviews, and communications, covering any topics related to this wide and multi-faceted class of enzymes.

Prof. Dr. Silvia Garavaglia
Prof. Dr. Concettina La Motta
Guest Editors

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. Cells 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 2700 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.

• aldehyde dehydrogenase
• aldehyde dehydrogenase superfamily
• aldehydes
• detoxification
• retinoic acid
• stem cells
• cancer stem cells
• carcinogenesis
• neurodegeneration
• all-trans-retinaldehyde
• ALDHs target validation
• alcohol metabolism
• aldehyde metabolism
• aldehyde detoxification function