Polyamines and transglutaminases: future perspectives

This is the fifth special issue focused on Polyamines available on Amino Acids. It is an editorial initiative on the occasion of the international meeting held in Wien (Austria) in 2015. Some articles in this issue highlight work on Transglutaminases (TGases). The first edition, “Polyamines and their analogs in cancer and other diseases”, was previously published in this journal (Editorial, 2007, Amino Acids 33:173) which covered topics discussed at the 1st international polyamine meeting held in Tivoli (Rome) in 2006. The 2007 issue was co-edited with a prominent polyamine field expert, Professor Kazuei Igarashi, as guest editor and dedicated to the memory of Professor Nikolaus Seiler, an authoritative scientist who had enormously contributed to the polyamine research. The second special issue entitled, “Polyamines in Biological Systems” published in Amino Acids (Vol 38, no. 2, 2010), covered the 11th International Congress on Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins held in Wien in 2009, organized by Professor Gert Lubec and myself. The ‘editorial’ tradition on the occasion of the 2nd International Conference of Polyamines in cancer and other diseases, held at Tivoli (Rome) in 2010, was continued with a third special issue on the “Role of polyamines, their analogs and transglutaminases in biological and clinical perspectives”, edited by Professor Igarashi and myself (Amino Acids, Vol 42, numbers 2–3, 2012). Research developments in the areas of biosynthesis and action of the ubiquitous polyamines, with particular focus on the biology of normal and cancerous eukaryotic cells, also covered the field in plants, represented the theme of the 4th special issue on Polyamines and Transglutaminases: Biological, Clinical and Biotechnological Perspectives (published in Amino Acids, Vol. 46, no. 3, March 2014). These previous successes became the basis and the driving force for holding the 2012 International Congress on “Polyamines Biological and Clinical Perspectives” in the marvelous city of Istanbul, Turkey at Istanbul Kultur University, organized by Professor Narcin Palavan Unsal and myself. This Special Issue of Amino Acids brings together 17 peer-reviewed manuscripts covering the essence of the lectures and posters, including subjects of discussion, presented at the International Congress on Amino Acids, Peptides and Proteins, held in Wien, August 3–8, 2015, and organized by Professor Gert Lubec, Editor in Chief-of-Amino Acids, with myself covering the “Polyamines Session”. In addition, it covered additional articles on the physiological roles of polyamines, which were solicited from other experts who could not attend the meeting. The articles deal with high-class research covering progress up to the end of 2015, and contain literature references, figures, tables and reaction schemes. In fact, the issue is intended to provide a relatively short overview of some important concepts and notions mainly on biogenic amines, including polyamines, and represents an important tool available to new and old players in this intriguing field. As mentioned above, posttranslational modifications of proteins via covalent binding of polyamines with special emphasis on transglutaminases (TGases) and hypusine biosynthesis are also highlighted in this issue. It is worthwhile mentioning here that an excellent edited book on “Transglutaminases” (by Hitomi, Kojima and Fesus) was published in 2015 by Springer Japan, which featured a number of review articles on this polyhedral family of enzymes.