Issues

The cover image illustrates a cell undergoing apoptosis (programmed cell death); this process is the focus of eight articles in this issue. Several papers cover the role of signalling pathways in the control of apoptosis: Zhang et al. and Wang et al. report on how resveratrol affects apoptosis via the ERK1/2 and PI3K/Akt signalling pathways respectively, while Fang et al. report on the attenuation of apoptosis by osteogenic protein-1 via the p38 MAPK pathway; its induction by shikonin via the miR-106b/PTEN/AKT/mTOR pathway is covered by Huang and Hu. In addition, the influence of microRNAs on apoptosis is the focus of research by Yao et al. and Hussain et al. Also in this issue, Hao et al. describe the induction of apoptosis in glioma cells by knockdown of the mitochondrial ribosomal protein MRPL42, while the triggering of programmed cell death by a thion-like peptide from Capsicum annuum in the yeast Candida tropicalis is the reported in the article by Taveira et al.