Dear Colleagues,

We invite the submission of manuscripts to a Special Issue of IJMS titled “The Emerging Roles of miRNAs in the Natural-Compound-Based Treatment of Cancer”, which will contain a selection of papers dealing with the molecular signaling of bioactive natural compounds in the regulation of microRNAs for cancer treatment. Original research reports, review articles, and commentaries are welcome.

Natural-compounds-based treatment for cancer is considered a good therapeutic method, as it lacks side effects when compared with chemotherapeutic drugs. Hence these natural compounds could also be considered for neoadjuvant therapy. There are many natural compounds that are well known for their anti-cancer activities, and the reason behind their anti-cancer activity is the presence of active components. However, the signaling mechanisms of these active compounds are still unclear in many cancers. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) take part in various cancer hallmarks by regulating other signaling pathways, inhibiting mRNA translation, and promoting mRNA degradation, resulting in the post-transcriptional alteration of gene expression. The activity of natural compounds also depends on how they regulate miRNA expression and thereby control tumorigenesis or tumor progression and metastasis. Hence, knowing the role of miRNAs in the activity of natural compounds for cancer treatment will help in developing new drugs based on natural compounds. These miRNAs also take part in tumor immune escape mechanism, and knowing their role when treating cancers with natural compounds could also enlighten the research on cancer immunotherapy.

This Special Issue aims to cover all aspects of bioactive natural compounds including, but not limited to, in vitro and in vivo activities, clinical effects, mechanisms of action, and signaling pathway elucidation. Papers dealing with the product development of active single components in natural nutraceuticals and dietary supplements or their synergistic combination treatment with commercially available anti-cancer drugs are also welcome.

Dr. Nipin Sp
Dr. Dong Young Kang
Prof. Dr. Codruta Soica
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. 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.

• natural compounds
• dietary supplements
• molecular signaling pathways
• microRNAs
• microRNA sequencing
• cancer hallmarks
• cell cycle arrest and apoptosis
• tumor angiogenesis
• tumor metastasis
• cancer immunotherapy
• anti-cancer drug development