Molecular Interactions of Elongated Mineral Particles with Cellular Compartments: Mechanisms and Implications
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Biology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2024 | Viewed by 152
Special Issue Editor
Interests: asbestos; iron metabolism; hephaestin; mesothelioma; lung cancer; mast cells; neutrophils; inflammation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Throughout the industrial age, asbestos fibres were intensively used for their outstanding physico-chemical and technological properties. However, since then, the impact of asbestos on human health has raised such concern that its use has been banned in most countries. Despite this, asbestos-contaminated sites are still present, and a significant number of past-exposed workers are still at risk of developing cancer due to the long latency period. Furthermore, naturally occurring asbestos and other elongated mineral particles (EMPs), such as fibrous antigorite and fibrous glaucophane, that share key physico-chemical and toxicological characteristics with asbestos, as well as the synthetic EMPs produced as substitutes for banned fibres, are likely to continue to pose a risk to human health.
Thus, the attention of the scientific community on EMPs has increased significantly in recent years. This Special Issue aims at exploring the molecular interactions of EMPs with cellular compartments, focusing on the underlying mechanisms and their implications for human health. If, on the one hand, the alteration of molecular pathways within the cell due to EMP–cell interactions has important implications on the function, survival and transformation of the cell itself, on the other hand, the alteration of the surface properties of EMPs as a result of these interactions can in itself contribute to their pro-inflammatory and (geno)toxic potential.
By exploring these molecular interactions, this Special Issue aims to shed light on the development of respiratory diseases such as lung fibrosis, lung cancer and pleural mesothelioma, while also giving due consideration to other areas that may be affected by the inhalation of EMPs (for asbestos, for example, the peritoneum, ovary, colon, etc.).
We invite researchers to contribute original research articles and reviews investigating the molecular interactions between EMPs and cellular compartments and their implications for human health.
Dr. Violetta Borelli
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. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. 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.
Keywords
- elongated mineral particles
- asbestos
- membranes
- lysososomes
- nucleus
- DNA
- cytoplasm
- cytoskeleton
- toxicology
- carcinogenesis
- inhalation exposure
