About this Research Topic
This Research Topic aims to bring together basic scientists and clinicians to provide novel insights into the mechanisms underlying the myeloid cells’ differentiation and activation in response to microenvironment alterations. In this regard, inflammation induces stress erythropoiesis and modulates hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells ‘(HSPC) fate towards myeloid differentiation. Current evidence suggests that chronic inflammation and oxidative stress, which mutually amplify each other within the hematopoietic niche, are key factors contributing to malignant hematopoiesis and leukemic progression. Malignant hematopoietic cells dynamically interact with myeloid cells and remodel the niche into a proinflammatory microenvironment that provides preferential support to tumor cells. Furthermore, myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs), a highly heterogeneous group of myeloid cells, play critical immunosuppressive functions in cancer and autoimmune diseases.
In addition to the well-known plasticity of macrophages and neutrophils, the functional diversity of erythrocytes and platelets also deserves attention since these cells emerge as important modulators of the immune response in diverse clinical settings. An improved understanding of myeloid cell plasticity, and their multifaceted functions, regarding disease-specific settings, is urgently needed to unravel the roles of myeloid cells in disease onset and/or progression.
The proposed Research Topic welcomes submissions related but not limited to the following:
• Phenotypic plasticity and heterogeneity of myeloid cells;
• The interplay between bone marrow and myeloid cells;
• Pathways of myeloid cell differentiation in stress hematopoiesis;
• The role of myeloid cells in the tumor microenvironment;
• Myeloid cell redox mechanisms in inflammation and inflammation-related diseases;
• Differences and peculiarities among myeloid cells (the JAK-STAT signaling pathways, cell-death mechanisms, effector mechanisms, cell communication, cytokine expression, inflammasome activity, neutrophil extracellular traps, etc.);
• Receptor expression, pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMP), damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMP);
• Myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSC);
• Therapeutic targeting of myeloid cells;
• Myeloid cells as therapeutic carriers (therapeutic delivery system).
Different article types are welcome, including Original Research and (mini-)Reviews. A full list of accepted article types, including descriptions, can be found at this link.
Keywords: myeloid cell line, neutrophils, macrophages, cellular plasticity, myeloid derived suppressor cells, chronic inflammation, cancer, innate immunity
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.