Biosynthesis of Phytochemicals and Their Applications in Novel Drug Lead Development
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Pharmacology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 February 2026 | Viewed by 732
Special Issue Editor
Interests: medicinal plant molecular biology; medicinal plant genetics; promoter structure and function; plant secondary metabolites; protein homology modeling
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Sessile plants possess strongly developed secondary metabolite pathways, producing a plethora of components of broad biological activity. These compounds are usually used to adapt plants to changes in the external environment. Moreover, they indicate strong biological activity and potential to affect signaling routes in animals and humans, which could be exploited to treat diseases.
The complexity of plant secondary metabolism results in only a partial understanding of the mechanisms controlling plant biosynthetic routes at the level of gene expression or post-transcriptional modifications of pivotal enzymes or transcription factors.
Also, the complexity of chemical constituents produced by plants provides challenges in their isolation, purification, and chemical structure characterization. Purified and structurally characterized phytochemicals could be used to carry out in silico searches for putative protein targets that could then be experimentally validated by such basic information as the effects on a particular signaling route, IC50 or affinity to a protein target.
Information on phytochemicals affecting the activity of particular protein enables the precise characterization of the ligand–protein interaction and subsequent development of SAR models that could be used for the expansion of known chemical derivatives, indicating improved bioavailability, biological activity, and potential to be used as novel drug lead molecules. Original research and reviews articles from experts in the field are welcome.
Dr. Piotr Szymczyk
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
- biosynthesis of phytochemicals in plants
- phytochemical isolation
- phytochemical structure
- animal and human protein targets of phytochemicals
- chemical derivatives of phytochemicals
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
