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Editorial Board Members’ Collection Series: Multitarget-Directed Ligands for the Treatment of Multifactorial Diseases

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2024 | Viewed by 1016

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, School of Pharmacy, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 54124 Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: synthesis and biological studies on anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents, on inhibitors of enzymes implicated in the inflammation and in the coagulation process in general; correlation of inflammation with cancer; neurodegeneration; antioxidant activity; theoretical and experimental calculation of physicochemical parameters implicated in biological response; use of computational chemistry in drug design as well as bioactive compounds of natural origin, e.g., essential oils
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacy, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy
Interests: drug discovery; multitarget ligands; antioxidants; neuroprotective agents; autophagy; anticancer; kinase inhibitor
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The current disease treatments used in clinical use are based on the principle of “one molecule - one target - one malady”. However, problems are observed related to the development of resistance to therapy, overexpression of anti-apoptotic proteins, mutations in key signaling molecules, overexpression of drug efflux pumps, etc.

The design strategy for multi-target-directed ligands (MTDLs) is based on the incorporation of two or more distinct pharmacophores of different drugs in a single structure to develop hybrid molecules. MTDLs can bind/inhibit two or more targets simultaneously, following a poly-pharmacological/pleiotropic approach.

Modern drug discovery has the power to identify potential multifunctional ligands for biologically and clinically validated targets among a large number of compounds. The MTDL approach holds great potential in multifactorial diseases since it may significantly simplify treatment with respect to standard combination therapy, reduce the risk of possible drug–drug interactions, and most importantly, limit the insurgence of resistance in cancer therapy. Multi-factorial diseases such as cancer, neuroinflammation and stroke may greatly benefit from therapies that simultaneously target multiple key pathways and/or their pathogenic cross-talk.

In the present Special Issue, several multi-targeted approaches to multifactorial diseases are given in original articles, reviews and discussed from an interdisciplinary point of view, providing an updated picture of the latest progress in the field of “Multitarget-Directed Ligands for the Treatment of Multifactorial Diseases”.

Prof. Dr. Dimitra Hadjipavlou-Litina
Prof. Dr. Simona Rapposelli
Guest Editors

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. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). 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.

Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

12 pages, 6688 KiB  
Article
New Adamantane-Containing Edaravone Conjugates as Potential Neuroprotective Agents for ALS Treatments
by Maria A. Lapshina, Elena F. Shevtsova, Vladimir V. Grigoriev, Aleksey Yu. Aksinenko, Aleksey A. Ustyugov, Daniil A. Steinberg, Grigoriy V. Maleev, Elena S. Dubrovskaya, Tatiana V. Goreva, Tatiana A. Epishina, Vladimir L. Zamoyski, Galina F. Makhaeva, Vladimir P. Fisenko, Ivan M. Veselov, Daria V. Vinogradova and Sergey O. Bachurin
Molecules 2023, 28(22), 7567; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules28227567 - 13 Nov 2023
Viewed by 811
Abstract
Currently, there are no effective drugs for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Only two drugs—edaravone and riluzole—have been approved, but they have very limited efficacy. The aim of this work was to modify the structural core of the Edaravone—phenylpyrazolone moiety and [...] Read more.
Currently, there are no effective drugs for the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Only two drugs—edaravone and riluzole—have been approved, but they have very limited efficacy. The aim of this work was to modify the structural core of the Edaravone—phenylpyrazolone moiety and combine it with aminoadamantane pharmacophore in order to expand the spectrum of its action to a number of processes involved in the pathogenesis of ALS. New conjugates of edaravone derivatives with 1-aminoadamantanes combined with alkylene or hydroxypropylene spacers were synthesized, and their biological activity was investigated. Compounds were found that could inhibit lipid peroxidation and calcium-related mitochondrial permeability, block fast sodium currents of CNS neurons, and reduce aggregation of the mutated form of the FUS-protein typical to ALS. So, the proposed modification of the edaravone molecule has allowed the obtaining of new original structures that combine some prospective therapeutic mechanisms against key chains of the pathogenesis of ALS. The identified lead compounds can be used for further optimization and development of new promising drugs on this basis for the treatment of ALS. Full article
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