Protein Aggregation: Molecular Mechanisms, Determinants and Therapeutic Approaches Volume II

Dear Colleagues,

Macromolecular protein assemblies including protein aggregates, biomolecular condensates, and ordered amyloid fibril formation have been associated with various widespread diseases, spanning from major neurodegenerative disorders to certain forms of cancer. At the same time, amyloid formation has also been shown to support important biological functions starting from humans and extending to single-cell organisms. The recent efflux of structural information on amyloid architecture, combined with studies on the molecular determinants and mechanisms that promote self- and heterotypic assembly, has highlighted certain unresolved properties of protein aggregates, such as structural polymorphism and its differential association to disease, selective vulnerability of specific cell types to certain toxic aggregate species, and complex spreading patterns, while also promoting the design of novel therapeutic approaches against this group of diseases.

MDPI’s Biomedicines is setting up this Special Issue aiming to promote new findings focused on the current understanding of the molecular mechanisms and/or the determinants of macromolecular protein assemblies in both disease and in function, whether that is the formation of functional amyloids or the development of new aggregation-based technologies and strategies for therapeutics and nanomaterials. Our interest extends to studies that uncover new aspects of the cross-interaction interplay of protein assemblies with other biomolecules (e.g., nucleic acids, proteins, lipids) and the role of other factors in this process (pH, salts, post-translational modifications, and more). We aim to highlight recent advances in understanding the structural diversity of protein assemblies spanning from phase-separated biomolecular condensates to oligomers and polymorphic end-state amyloid fibrils and their interplay with proteostatic control mechanisms that regulate their formation and balance in a cellular context.

Dr. Nikolaos N. Louros
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.

• protein aggregation
• functional amyloids
• macromolecular protein assembly
• cellular mechanisms of assembly
• sequence/structure determinants
• phase separation
• biomolecular cross-interactions in aggregation
• role of external factors in aggregation
• amyloid polymorphism
• design of functional aggregates
• aggregation-based technologies and therapeutics