ijms-logo

Journal Browser

Journal Browser

Interactions and Functions Between Peptides and Polysaccharides

A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Biochemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2026) | Viewed by 1107

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Spice and Beverage Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Tropical Agricultural Sciences, Wanning 571533, China
Interests: carbohydrate polymers; gut microbiota; metabolism; obesity; diabetes mellitus; inflammation bowel disease; immune regulation; antioxidant activity; bioactivity peptides; functional food; food source component interaction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Food Science and Engineering, Hainan University, Haikou, China
Interests: carbohydrate polymers; polysaccharide; gut microbiota; metabonomics; inflammation bowel disease
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Food-derived peptides and polysaccharides represent two of the most biologically significant classes of functional biomolecules. The two components not only serve as essential macro-nutrients but also exhibit remarkable bioactivity, influencing a wide range of physiological processes from gut homeostasis to systemic immune regulation. Recent advances in food omics, structural biology, and computational modeling have revolutionized our understanding of their function and complex interactions, and the precise molecular mechanisms underlying their effects and interaction remain to be fully elucidated. We kindly invite investigators to contribute both original research and review articles that are in accordance with this Special Issue, which focuses on structure–function relationships of individual polysaccharides/peptides and their cooperative or competitive interactions in food systems. Subtopics that are also of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Molecular characterization and interaction dynamics of polysaccharide–peptide complexes;
  • Bioactivity, structural analysis, and health impacts of polysaccharides and peptides on chronic diseases;
  • Technological innovations and applications, including novel extraction and purification methodologies;
  • New advances in polysaccharide and peptide analysis and metabolomics.

Prof. Dr. Kexue Zhu
Dr. Xianxiang Chen
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 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.

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

  • polysaccharides
  • peptides
  • bioactivity
  • structural analysis
  • polysaccharide–peptide complexes
  • interactions
  • gut microbiota
  • immune regulation
  • interaction dynamics

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.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

22 pages, 4150 KB  
Article
Combining Yeast Display and Bacterial Genomic Library for the Unbiased Isolation of Novel Polysaccharide-Binding Peptides
by Angela Stabile, Gaia Scaramella, Simone Puccio, John Brady, Lise Goltermann, Tim Tolker-Nielsen, Barbara Bellich, Simone De Zotti, Cristina Lagatolla, Fortunato Ferrara, Roberto Rizzo, Paola Cescutti and Daniele Sblattero
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2026, 27(5), 2417; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms27052417 - 6 Mar 2026
Viewed by 752
Abstract
Here, we present a novel yeast surface display-based platform for the discovery of biofilm-associated exopolysaccharide-binding peptides. Unlike conventional synthetic libraries, our approach utilizes the genomic diversity of Burkholderia multivorans strain C1576 through open-reading frame-filtered genomic fragment libraries, thereby enriching for naturally encoded carbohydrate-binding [...] Read more.
Here, we present a novel yeast surface display-based platform for the discovery of biofilm-associated exopolysaccharide-binding peptides. Unlike conventional synthetic libraries, our approach utilizes the genomic diversity of Burkholderia multivorans strain C1576 through open-reading frame-filtered genomic fragment libraries, thereby enriching for naturally encoded carbohydrate-binding domains. By iterative fluorescence-activated cell sorting, we identified 21 peptides with confirmed binding to two structurally distinct rhamnose-rich polysaccharides: the exopolysaccharide Epol C1576 and the capsular polysaccharide CPS KpB-1. Biophysical characterization revealed that these peptides adopt predominantly α-helical or disordered conformations and undergo structural rearrangements upon polysaccharide binding. Functional assays demonstrated that selected peptides modulate biofilm architecture and bacterial viability in a species-specific manner, although they do not have a direct bactericidal effect against planktonic cells. This proof-of-concept study establishes yeast surface display as a powerful tool for the discovery of biofilm-targeting peptides and provides a basis for development of novel diagnostics and therapeutics to combat biofilm-associated infections. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Interactions and Functions Between Peptides and Polysaccharides)
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop