Design, Synthesis, and Evaluation of New Anticancer Substances and Radiopharmaceuticals

A special issue of Biomolecules (ISSN 2218-273X). This special issue belongs to the section "Chemical Biology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 572

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Independent Radiopharmacy Unit, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Lublin, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
Interests: medicinal chemistry; organic synthesis; heterocycles; anticancer activity; antimicrobial activity; SAR
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Independent Radiopharmacy Unit, Faculty of Pharmacy, Medical University of Lublin, 20-093 Lublin, Poland
Interests: medicinal chemistry; biomarkers; radiopharmaceuticals; radiomics; anticancer activity; in vitro/in vivo
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The development of novel anticancer agents and radiopharmaceuticals remains a multidisciplinary field at the intersection of medicinal chemistry, molecular biology, pharmacology, and nuclear medicine. This research area focuses on the rational design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of new compounds with selective cytotoxicity against cancer cells. A growing emphasis is placed on targeting specific molecular pathways and tumor biomarkers to improve therapeutic efficacy and reduce their systemic toxicity. Radiopharmaceuticals, which combine biologically active molecules with radioactive isotopes, offer both diagnostic and therapeutic (theranostic) potential—enabling personalized treatment strategies and real-time monitoring of therapeutic outcomes. Advances in synthetic methodologies, structure–activity relationship (SAR) studies, and in vitro/in vivo evaluation models are accelerating the translation of promising candidates from bench to bedside. This topic invites contributions highlighting innovative approaches to the design and functional evaluation of small molecules, metal complexes, peptides, or nanoparticles with anticancer and/or radiopharmaceutical applications.

Prof. Dr. Monika Pitucha
Dr. Marta Rusek
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • synthesis
  • anticancer activity
  • radiopharamceuticals
  • organic compounds
  • medicinal chemistry

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 802 KB  
Article
Study of the Lipophilicity of Tetracyclic Anticancer Azaphenothiazines
by Małgorzata Jeleń, Beata Morak-Młodawska, Małgorzata Dołowy and Adam Konefał
Biomolecules 2025, 15(8), 1194; https://doi.org/10.3390/biom15081194 - 19 Aug 2025
Viewed by 442
Abstract
Although chlorpromazine is primarily used in psychiatry, it has been shown since its introduction to influence the course of neoplastic diseases. According to the strategy of drug repurposing, chlorpromazine has been successfully tested for its potential antitumor effects on multiple cancer cell lines. [...] Read more.
Although chlorpromazine is primarily used in psychiatry, it has been shown since its introduction to influence the course of neoplastic diseases. According to the strategy of drug repurposing, chlorpromazine has been successfully tested for its potential antitumor effects on multiple cancer cell lines. This effect is consistent with the overlap of molecular pathways observed for years between schizophrenia and cancer. The main objective of this work was to evaluate the lipophilicity of 17 previously synthesized tetracyclic chlorpromazine analogues exhibiting diverse anticancer and antimicrobial activity using thin-layer chromatography and computational methods. For a compound to become an effective drug, it must have a favorable ADMET profile, which determines its pharmacokinetic properties as a drug candidate. Lipophilicity is one of the key parameters widely employed in designing new bioactive compounds as potential therapeutic agents. In this article, chromatographic plates precoated with silica gel 60 RP-18F254 and a mixture of acetone and TRIS buffer were used as the mobile phase. The chromatographic parameter of lipophilicity (RM0) of the investigated compounds determined by means of the Soczewinski–Wachtmeister formula was useful to obtain the values of the experimental lipophilicity parameter expressed as logPTLC. The results of logPTLC were compared with theoretical values of logP obtained using different algorithms (iLOGP, XLOGP3, WLOGP, MLOGP, SILCOS-IT, and ClogP). Furthermore, the online platforms, such as SwissADME and pkCSM, allowed the determination of the remaining ADME parameters of the quinoline derivatives of chlorpromazine. The study of lipophilicity and ADME factors enabled confirmation that the tested compounds demonstrated favorable properties. Therefore, they can be considered as promising starting structures for further studies. Full article
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