Editorial

Current Molecular Medicine marks its 11th anniversary with the publication of the issue 2 of volume 11. As a bimonthly journal publishing peer-reviewed articles in the field of biomedicine, CMM has been steadily growing up with the most recent impact factor reported to be 5.096. This success has been derived from the hard work and dedication of the two former Editors-in-Chief, Dr. Anil Mukherjee and Dr. Anirban Maitra, as well as the Editorial Board members. I would like to take this opportunity to thank Dr. Anil Mukherjee, Dr. Anirban Maitra and all the editorial members for their outstanding service to CMM. It is an incredible privilege to have been invited by Bentham Publishers to succeed Dr. Maitra and serve as the Editor-in-Chief for CMM. In my editorship, every effort will be made to maintain and outdo the high standards and quality that CMM has achieved. In addition, changes will be made so that exciting and important new discoveries will be published in this major biomedical journal. Starting from issue 6 of volume 11, CMM will publish research articles besides the in-depth review articles of fundamental importance in various fields of biomedical sciences. In this issue 3 under my editorship, 6 articles have been selected. Aids is a deadly disease threatening millions of life. The virus (HIV)-mediating the infection is characterized by numerous abnormalities in the immune system: massive decrease of CD4+ T cells, progressive depletion of naive CD8+ T cells, elevated numbers of apoptotic B and T cells, and systemic immune activation. These abnormalities result in the occurrence of non-functional cytotoxic T lymphocytes that fail to control HIV-replication in most individuals during the progressive phase of the disease. The costimulatory and -inhibitory molecules are also implicated in the activation, differentiation and survival of various types of cells in the immune system, and thus, HIV-infection is also characterized by an aberrant expression of these molecules on cells of the immune system. The first article by Aerts's group reviewed the functions and expression patterns of the receptor/ligand pairs of the tumor necrosis factor and the B7 super-families of costimulatory and -inhibitory molecules in HIV-infected patients. These authors also discussed the possibilities of manipulating their signaling as a therapeutic anti-HIV tool. Autophagy is one of the major catabolic processes present in eukaryotic cells. A hallmark of the autophagic pathway is the formation of double or multiple layered membranes that engulf the material to be finally degraded in the lysosomes. While enormous advances emerged in recent years in understanding the autophagic process at the molecular level, the origin of the sequestering membrane has remained elusive for more than forty years. The second article by Militello and Colombo summarized recent experimental evidence and suggested that more than one membrane source may exist. The authors also suggested that during the biogenesis of the sequestering membrane, the functions of specific organelles were necessary. Autism is a developmental disorder of the central nervous system characterized by impairments in social interaction, communication and restricted repetitive and stereotyped behavior. The mechanism underlying the disease remains unknown. The third article by Creemers's group summarized the experimental evidence showing that Neurobeachin (NBEA) may be a candidate gene for autism. By analyzing the functions of NBEA and its regulation on other biological processes, Creemers's group suggested that new insights towards the functions of NBEA may help in identifying novel pathways affected in autistic patients. In particular, the impaired functionality of large dense-core vesicles (LDCVs), which contain neurotrophins, neuropeptides and monoamines, might contribute to the pathogenesis of autism in at least a subgroup of patients. Hypoxia Inducible Factor-1 (HIF-1) is considered the major coordinator of the cellular adaptive response to hypoxia. The fourth article by Harmon's group summarized the role of HIF-1 in regulating the process of endothelial cell survival, migration and proliferation, vascular smooth muscle cell migration and proliferation and mobilization of circulating angiogenic cells to the periphery. They further discussed the effect of HIF-1 on the expression and activity of extracellular cell matrix modifying enzymes including MMPs and prolidase in the context of tumor angiogenesis and metastasis, and suggested that HIF-1 also may play an important role in wound healing. Classical Hodgkin lymphoma (cHL) is now recognized as a B-cell-derived lymphoma characterized by few malignant pathognomonic Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg (HRS) cells and an abundant infiltrate of reactive bystander cells. The fifth article by Schwarzer and Jundt summarized the properties of the HRS cells and then discussed the roles of the Notch and NF-κB signaling pathways (see cover figure) for cHL pathogenesis, their potential cross-talk and implications for future therapeutic applications. Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a severe progressive neurodegenerative disease. The cause remains unknown. The last article by McCombe and Henderson explored the role of immune and inflammatory mechanisms in ALS after a discussion of both genetic abnormalities and environment factors. In summary, these articles touch fundamental aspects of different human diseases, which will provide valuable formation to the colleagues in the corresponding fields.