Fungal Chemical Composition: Isolation, Identification, and Activity Assessment

Dear Colleagues,

Great efforts have been made in recent years to explore fungi, including medicinal edible mushrooms. Clinical applications have been demonstrated using mushrooms such as Ganoderma sichuanense and Lentinula edodes. While it is known that active compounds from mushrooms play a role in certain well-known signaling pathways involved in diseases, their mechanisms of action and target cells/molecules remain obscure.

This Special Issue aims to determine the pharmacological properties of isolated compounds found in fungi, including edible ones (i.e., mushrooms), and to clarify their mechanism of action and targets. Manuscripts submitted for publication should meet the following criteria and scope:

• The investigated active compounds must be isolated from fungi or mushrooms and their structural makeup examined in detail. The list of possible chemicals includes, but is not limited to: polysaccharides, alkaloids, flavonoids, and various monomers. These compounds, it is stressed, must have a well-defined chemical structure.
• The pharmacological effects of fungi-derived extracts, e.g., immune regulatory, anti-inflammatory, anti-neurodegenerative, anti-oxidative, and anti-tumor properties, must be demonstrated using purified and structurally appraised compounds. Evidence from in vitro studies should be supported by studies in animal models or, ideally, in clinical trials.
• The study should define the cells and cytokines that the active compounds interact with and how they do so, as well as their mechanisms of action.

Dr. Mosad A. Ghareeb
Dr. Ahmed M. Sayed
Dr. Ahmed A. Hamed
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. Separations is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2600 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.

• fungi
• natural products
• structure analysis
• pharmacological properties
• mechanism
• disease