Bioengineering Strategies Targeting Emerging Cell Death Modalities in Chronic Non-Communicable Diseases

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Submission deadlines

  1. Manuscript Summary Submission Deadline 31 August 2025 | Manuscript Submission Deadline 31 December 2025

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Background

Emerging regulated cell death (RCD) mechanisms—such as ferroptosis, pyroptosis, and PANoptosis—are redefining therapeutic strategies for inflammatory diseases (e.g., IBD, rheumatoid arthritis) and tumors. These pathways exhibit dual roles: driving chronic inflammation via cytokine storms or promoting tumor immunosuppression through damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs). Bioengineering innovations—CRISPR screens, nanoparticle delivery, and synthetic biology—now enable precise targeting of RCD triggers (e.g., gasdermin activation, iron overload). For example, engineered CAR-macrophages evade pyroptosis to enhance tumor phagocytosis, while degradable nanoscavengers modulate metal homeostasis to induce ferroptosis in cancers. Challenges remain in balancing specificity, translating 3D-bioprinted models to clinics, and addressing ethical risks. This interdisciplinary field bridges molecular insights with engineering tools to restore cellular equilibrium in diseases driven by dysregulated cell death.
Chronic inflammatory diseases and tumors remain major therapeutic challenges due to their reliance on dysregulated cell death pathways, such as ferroptosis, pyroptosis, and PANoptosis, which drive pathological inflammation, immune evasion, and therapy resistance. Current interventions often lack specificity, leading to off-target effects or incomplete suppression of disease mechanisms. For instance, systemic inhibition of pyroptosis may inadvertently impair host defense, while unmodulated ferroptosis in tumors could exacerbate oxidative damage to healthy tissues. This Research Topic aims to address these gaps by advancing bioengineered strategies that precisely target emerging cell death modalities. Key objectives include:
1. Pathway-Specific Modulation: Developing CRISPR-based tools or degradable nanomaterials to selectively inhibit pro-inflammatory RCD (e.g., gasdermin-D silencing in IBD) or induce tumor-selective death (e.g., iron-chelating nanoparticles for ferroptosis).
2. Translational Integration: Leveraging 3D-bioprinted tumor models and patient-derived organoids to validate interventions in disease-specific microenvironments.
3. Ethical and Safe Innovation: Ensuring engineered therapies (e.g., inflammasome-resistant CAR-macrophages) minimize off-target risks through AI-driven design and rigorous biocompatibility testing.
By bridging mechanistic insights with cutting-edge engineering, this initiative seeks to deliver precision therapies that restore cellular equilibrium, ultimately improving outcomes in inflammation-driven and oncologic disorders.
This Research Topic invites contributions focused on bioengineering strategies targeting emerging cell death mechanisms in inflammatory diseases and tumors. Key themes include the molecular pathways of emerging cell death types (ferroptosis, pyroptosis, etc.), bioengineering approaches to modulate these pathways in cancer and inflammatory diseases, and the application of nanomaterials and gene editing technologies to control cell death. We also welcome research on the development of biomarkers for monitoring cell death in clinical settings and strategies for overcoming safety and delivery challenges in therapeutic applications. We are interested in original research articles, reviews, and perspective papers that provide novel insights or innovative approaches in this area, but do not accept clinical manuscripts or purely bioinformatics manuscripts. Contributions should aim to explore the therapeutic potential and challenges of targeting cell death pathways for disease treatment.

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

  • Brief Research Report
  • Case Report
  • Data Report
  • Editorial
  • General Commentary
  • Hypothesis and Theory
  • Methods
  • Mini Review
  • Opinion

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

  • Brief Research Report
  • Case Report
  • Data Report
  • Editorial
  • General Commentary
  • Hypothesis and Theory
  • Methods
  • Mini Review
  • Opinion
  • Original Research
  • Perspective
  • Review
  • Systematic Review
  • Technology and Code

Keywords: Bioengineering Strategies, Regulated Cell Death (RCD), Targeted Therapy, Nanotechnology in Medicine, Drug Delivery Systems, Inflammatory Diseases, Cancer Immunotherapy, Immune Dysregulation, Tumor Microenvironment

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.

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