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Enzymes and Enzyme Inhibitors—Applications in Medicine and Diagnosis, 3rd Edition

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: 31 December 2025 | Viewed by 888

Special Issue Editor

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues, 

This Special Issue is the third edition of “Enzymes and Enzyme Inhibitors—Applications in Medicine and Diagnosis”.

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms/special_issues/Enzyme_Inhibitors_ijms
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/ijms/special_issues/Enzyme_Inhibitors_ijms2 

Our aim is to gather research and review articles on enzymes and enzyme inhibitors with applications in diagnosis and therapy across all areas of medical research. 

As enzymes are involved in all biochemical processes, there are numerous pathological disorders related to the deficiency, malfunction, reduced/increased activity, or overexpression of enzymes. In addition, deficiencies in enzyme inhibitors are also responsible for several serious diseases. Therefore, the study of enzymes and their inhibitors is crucial for the elucidation of the pathophysiology of diseases and the exploration of therapeutic strategies, making this an important area of continuous research.

The role of enzymes in the regulation of all processes has turned them into important drug targets. Enzyme inhibitors constitute the second largest drug category, following receptor agonists and antagonists. Enzyme inhibitors are among the drugs used for the treatment of metabolic and degenerative diseases, including hypercholesterolemia, diabetes, and hypertension, as well as antimicrobial and antiviral therapy. The large number of isoenzymes in the human body necessitates the development of highly specific and effective inhibitors in order to achieve the targeted effect with fewer undesired side effects. This goal has led to the continuation of research into the development of novel and improved inhibitors, even for old enzyme targets, while the development of strains resistant to antimicrobial and antiviral therapy underlines the continuous need for novel inhibitors and novel targets. 

In the field of diagnosis, enzymes are important biomolecules. The levels of enzymes and specific isoenzymes can be measured for the diagnosis and monitoring of many diseases. Although specific isoenzyme inhibitors enable the differential measurement of organ-specific isoenzymes in some cases, these inhibitors have not been found for most enzymes. On the other hand, the number of enzymes and related methods being used to make enzymatic assays for the measurement of other biomarkers, within classic methods, dry chemistry, and bioelectrode-based techniques, is increasing.

We call on you to contribute to this Special Issue by submitting research and review articles related to this topic.

Prof. Dr. Athina Geronikaki
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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.

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Keywords

  • enzyme
  • enzyme inhibitor
  • drug target
  • enzyme deficiency
  • enzyme overexpression
  • biomarker
  • drugs
  • diagnosis
  • therapy

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

21 pages, 1902 KB  
Article
Investigating Amphoteric 3,4′-Biscoumarin-Based ortho-[(Dialkylamino)methyl]phenols as Dual MAO and ChE Inhibitors
by Anthi Petrou, Caterina Deruvo, Rosa Purgatorio, Boris Lichitsky, Andrey N. Komogortsev, Victor G. Kartsev, Modesto de Candia, Marco Catto, Cosimo D. Altomare and Athina Geronikaki
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2025, 26(20), 10197; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms262010197 - 20 Oct 2025
Viewed by 501
Abstract
Nineteen previously and newly synthesized amphoteric 8-[(dialkylamino)methyl]-7-hydroxy-4-(2-oxo-2H-chromen-3-yl)-2H-chromen-2-ones were assayed as inhibitors of monoamine oxidases (MAO-A and B) and cholinesterases (AChE and BChE). Five of the tested compounds (2b, 2c, 3c, 5b, and 5c), [...] Read more.
Nineteen previously and newly synthesized amphoteric 8-[(dialkylamino)methyl]-7-hydroxy-4-(2-oxo-2H-chromen-3-yl)-2H-chromen-2-ones were assayed as inhibitors of monoamine oxidases (MAO-A and B) and cholinesterases (AChE and BChE). Five of the tested compounds (2b, 2c, 3c, 5b, and 5c), namely those bearing the less bulky alkyls in the Mannich base 8-CH2NR2 (R = Me, Et) and the halogens (Cl, Br) at C6 of the 4-coumarin-3-yl moiety, showed moderate inhibitory potencies toward human MAO-A in the single-digit micromolar range (IC50s from 1.49 to 3.04 µM). In particular, the 6′-Cl derivatives 2b and 5b proved to be reversible competitive inhibitors of human MAO-A with Ki values of 0.272 and 0.326 µM. Among the tested compounds, 3c proved to also be a moderate inhibitor of human AChE (IC50 4.27 µM). Molecular docking calculations suggested binding modes of the most active compounds to MAO-A and AChE binding sites consistent enough with the experimental data. Chemoinformatic tools suggest for the most active compounds, including the dual MAO-A/AChE inhibitor 3c, full compliance with Lipinski’s rule of five, high probability of gastrointestinal absorption, but low blood–brain barrier (BBB) permeability. While further efforts are required to improve their CNS distribution, herein new phenolic Mannich bases have been identified that may have potential for treating neurodegenerative syndromes. Full article
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