Protein post-translational modifications (PTMs), referring to any alteration in the amino acid sequence of the protein after its synthesis, increase the functional diversity of proteome by the covalent addition of functional groups or proteins, proteolytic cleavage of regulatory subunits, or degradation of entire proteins. Generally, these modifications influence the structure, stability, activity, cellular localization, or substrate specificity of proteins. PTMs as a very meaningful research field have attracted more and more attention. PTMs provide complexity to proteomes for diverse functions with a limited number of genes. PTMs occur to participate in the regulation of gene expression, modifying protein functions, and modulating interactions of proteins with DNA, cofactors, lipids, and other proteins, protein phosphorylation, protein methylation, protein acetylation. PTMs of histones are involved in epigenetic regulation and play critical roles in cancers.

The development of nonrestrictive sequence alignment technology provides the possibility to identify novel PTMs, such as succinylation, crotonylation, malonylation, butyrylation, propionylation, and lactoylation, which are conserved and widely involved in the cancer development. For example, lysine succinylation (Ksucc) is a newly identified histone PTM and Ksucc of histones appears to accumulate at transcriptional start sites and to correlate with gene expression. With the in-depth study of novel PTMs and epigenetic regulation, it has been reported that an enzyme has a variety of modification functions, such as P300, KAT2A, SIRTs, and HDACs. More and more findings provide new insights into the mechanism by which the reprogramming of PTMs and epigenetic regulation in cancer progression. The factors associated with novel PTMs and epigenetic regulation are ideal drug targets.

In this Special Issue, we encourage studies regarding the effect and molecular mechanism of complementary and alternative medicine on novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation in cancers. The discovery and exploration of the regulatory factors, such as enzymes, circular RNAs, and exosomes will enrich the understanding of the mechanism of novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation. The natural compound, Chinese herbal compounds, herbal extracts, Chinese patent drugs, and other potential agents that affect the novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation in cancers are welcome. The effect and mechanisms of a combination of drugs and new use of old drugs on novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation in cancers are meaningful. Research exploring the molecular mechanisms of complementary and alternative medicine for the treatment of novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation in cancers is significant. We welcome original research and review articles.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Complementary and alternative medicine for treating novel type PTMs in cancers
• Complementary and alternative medicine for treating novel type epigenetic regulations in cancers
• Application of precision medicine targeted novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation in cancers
• The effect and molecular mechanisms of natural compounds on novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation in cancers
• The effect and molecular mechanisms of Chinese herbal compounds and Chinese patent drugs on novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation in cancers
• The effect and molecular mechanisms of herbal extracts on novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation in cancers
• Targeting of novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation by animal or plant-derived components in cancers
• The combined combination of drugs for the treatment of novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation in cancers
• Application of old drugs for the treatment of novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation in cancers
• The discovery and exploration of the regulatory factors involving novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation.
• Application of stem cells for the treatment of novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation in cancers
• The development and application of exosomes for treating novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation in cancers
• Application of network pharmacology in novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation of cancers
• New technologies in mining the effective materials of complementary and alternative medicine for treating novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation in cancers
• Application of bioinformatics in novel type PTMs and epigenetic regulation of cancers