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Natural and Semi-Synthetic Small Molecules in Drug Discovery 2.0

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Bioactives and Nutraceuticals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2022) | Viewed by 2591

Special Issue Editor


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Guest Editor
Laboratory of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
Interests: natural products chemistry; bioactive small molecules; anti-inflammatory drugs; pro-apoptotic drugs; endoplasmic reticulum stress; proteasome inhibitors
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Small molecules continue to be the most relevant set of therapeutic options for most human pathologies.

The process of drug discovery is complex and can arise from several strategies; however, naturally occurring molecules are still one of the most prolific sources of new chemical entities with applications in human health. However, these molecules can frequently be upgraded or enhanced in their potency and selectivity by conducting structural changes. For this reason, derivatives obtained by hemi-synthesis are also pivotal players in the process of drug discovery and development.

This Special Issue will focus on the process of drug discovery from naturally occurring bioactive small molecules and their hemi-synthetic derivatives. Several diseases will be addressed, including but not limited to cancer, as well as inflammatory, neurodegenerative, and metabolic diseases.

Prof. Dr. David M. Pereira
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Molecular Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal. For details about the APC please see here. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • bioactive small molecules
  • natural molecules
  • natural products chemistry
  • hemi-synthesis
  • medicinal chemistry
  • cancer
  • inflammation
  • neurodegenerative diseases
  • metabolic diseases

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

15 pages, 14357 KiB  
Article
Eugenol β-Amino/β-Alkoxy Alcohols with Selective Anticancer Activity
by Cláudia Teixeira, Renato B. Pereira, Nuno F. S. Pinto, Catarina M. M. Coelho, Maria José G. Fernandes, António G. Fortes, Maria S. T. Gonçalves and David M. Pereira
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2022, 23(7), 3759; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms23073759 - 29 Mar 2022
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2126
Abstract
Eugenol, 4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol, is the main constituent of clove essential oil and has demonstrated relevant biological activity, namely anticancer activity. Aiming to increase this activity, we synthesized a series of eugenol β-amino alcohol and β-alkoxy alcohol derivatives, which were then tested against two human [...] Read more.
Eugenol, 4-allyl-2-methoxyphenol, is the main constituent of clove essential oil and has demonstrated relevant biological activity, namely anticancer activity. Aiming to increase this activity, we synthesized a series of eugenol β-amino alcohol and β-alkoxy alcohol derivatives, which were then tested against two human cancer cell lines, namely gastric adenocarcinoma cells (AGS) and lung adenocarcinoma cells (A549). An initial screening was performed to identify the most cytotoxic compounds. The results demonstrated that three β-amino alcohol derivatives had anticancer activity that justified subsequent studies, having been shown to trigger apoptosis. Importantly, the most potent molecules displayed no appreciable toxicity towards human noncancer cells. Structure-activity relationships show that changes in eugenol structure led to enhanced cytotoxic activity and can contribute to the future design of more potent and selective drugs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Natural and Semi-Synthetic Small Molecules in Drug Discovery 2.0)
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