Synergistic Properties of Selected Compounds with Antibiotics—Spectroscopic and Biological Studies

Dear Colleagues,

Excessive antibiotic therapy means that the growing problem of diseases caused by various fungal infections is increasingly present, and it also increases the number of highly drug-resistant strains. This makes it necessary either to search for new compounds with a specific pharmacological effect or to look for ways to improve the performance of drugs that are already used. One very effective way to enhance the performance of pharmaceuticals that already exist is to combine therapies with several different drugs to determine their mutual synergistic properties. Here, of course, we can create many different combinations, whether among already-known pharmaceuticals or by combining known pharmaceuticals with newly obtained drugs through chemical syntheses. It has become extremely promising, among other methods, to create synergistic compositions of antibiotics that have been used for years, e.g., polyene or azole drugs with newly obtained compounds of various types. Such compositions show very promising effects in relation to many fungal strains, including extremely drug-resistant ones. However, even the biological effect of some compositions is generally known, there is a lot to be done in terms of spectroscopic effects so that the exact mechanisms of the molecular action of such compositions can be established. The development of modern spectroscopic techniques, especially fluorescence, allows research topics to be explored more thoroughly than ever before. Understanding the molecular mechanisms that affect the better functioning of a given drug composition is an extraordinary opportunity to solve the growing problem caused by fungal infections. This in turn brings us closer to creating new medicines that can be effectively placed on the market and used in hospital treatments.

Therefore, this Special Issue is dedicated mainly to subjects related to the phenomenon of action of various synergistic compositions. By this, we mean not only antibiotics or compounds listed in the title of the issue but any kind of similar composition. We strongly encourage you to submit works related to the topics mentioned above in combination with model biological systems such as liposomal systems, micellar systems, aquatic environments, complexes with selected rare earth metal ions, nanoparticles, etc. Our primary interest is in new topics related to compositions exhibiting the synergistic properties of various molecules and in review articles related to any issue from the keywords or a given description. We encourage submissions that include spectroscopic methods from the most basic to the most advanced, as well as contemporary ones, and we welcome work supported with DFT, [TD]DFT quantum chemistry calculations, and crystallographic results, although this is not a prerequisite. In addition, works containing the results of biological research, which may show given molecules and, above all, their combinations showing synergism, are also very welcome. Most of all, we are looking for works in which the authors try to combine spectroscopic and biological properties and approach the problem in a multithreaded way. Therefore, we strongly encourage you to send experimental works that are spectroscopic, theoretical, biological, or contain all of these aspects combined.

Dr. Arkadiusz Matwijczuk
Prof. Dr. Mariusz Gagoś
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. 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.

• synergistic properties
• synergism and synergy mechanisms
• antibiotics and azoles; molecules from different groups, known or newly synthesized
• biological tests of antifungal properties
• liposomal systems
• molecular spectroscopy (electronic absorption and emission, fluorescence lifetime, molecular electronic transition spectroscopy, FT-IR and Raman spectroscopy, circular dichroism (CD), Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC), NMR and NMR imaging spectroscopy, SPR, FLIM, Confocal Microscopy, Fluorescence Microscopy, and other spectroscopic methods)
• lipid mixes (various lipids) and modifications with sterol additives
• small-molecule additives (various small molecules, e.g., thiadiazoles, coumarins, hybrid systems of small molecules, molecular sensors and other compounds which change their physiochemical properties upon the interactions with lipid systems)
• various nanoparticle-based additives
• membrane peptides and proteins
• various micellar systems
• fluorescent effects in solvents, amorphous forms, and crystals
• quantum-mechanical calculations for systems showing synergism
• molecular aggregation
• drug delivery system