New Insights into Bioactive Peptides: Design, Synthesis, Structure-Activity Relationship (2nd Edition)

Dear Colleagues,

Peptides consist of amino acids linked by covalent bonds similarly to proteins but with a shorter chain. Synthetic and natural peptides may hold interesting biological functions and consequently they have aroused increasing attention in drug design/drug discovery research fields. Peptide sequences may reflect proteins spots responsible for molecular recognition and biological activities, thus can act as enzyme inhibitors or protein-protein interaction modulators and interfere with signaling pathways. Peptides may possess therapeutic potential and be employed to set-up original therapies in alternative to small molecules and protein drugs due to their unique features of potency, specificity, and low toxicity profile. Since the discovery of Insulin for diabetes treatment, peptide drugs have been implemented to treat a wide range of diseases, including cancer, osteoporosis, multiple sclerosis, HIV infection and chronic pain. Moreover, peptides can play a supporting role in disease diagnosis and drug delivery. As peptides may be affected by high protease sensitivity and defective pharmacokinetics, different chemical strategies have been proposed for overcoming these issues, such as peptide stapling and cyclization and peptidomimetics design. Several computational tools have been also devoted to peptide ligand design and screening against biological macromolecular targets, and peptide structure manipulation.

The present Special Issue aims to cover the above-described topics by means of contributions (communication, full papers and reviews) particularly focused on innovative experimental and computational approaches towards the development of bioactive peptides.

Dr. Marilisa Leone
Dr. Flavia Anna Mercurio
Guest Editors

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