Drug Development and Discovery for Alzheimer's Disease
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Neurobiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 9
Special Issue Editor
Interests: Alzheimer; drug design; drug metabolism; beta amyloid; beta secretase
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized primarily by dementia. According to estimates by the World Health Organization, the number of individuals living with dementia will reach approximately 78 million by 2030. As AD primarily affects individuals over the age of 60—a population expected to nearly double between 2015 and 2050—this condition represents a major global health challenge.
Despite substantial efforts to develop pharmacological therapies capable of halting the progression of AD, effective treatment remains elusive. This is largely due to the complexity and incomplete understanding of its pathophysiology, which has led to inconsistent and often inconclusive outcomes in clinical trials. Consequently, the search for effective therapeutic agents continues, with researchers focusing on diverse molecular targets such as acetylcholinesterase, amyloid-β peptide, glycogen synthase kinase-3β, β-secretase, cholinergic receptors, N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptors, and hyperphosphorylated tau. It is important to mention that three anti-amyloid monoclonal antibodies have been approved for AD treatment, Aducanab, lecanemab, and donanemab, representing a new therapeutic alternative but one with limitations in relation to adverse effects and accessibility. However, anti-hyperphosphorylated tau monoclonal antibodies may represent a new therapy option.
The restricted eligibility and relatively limited access to anti-amyloid MABs highlights the need for therapies with greater safety and convenience.
We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue by submitting original research or reviews focused on the discovery and development of new or repurposed small molecules and antibodies for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Submissions may focus on single-target or multitarget strategies or the identification of novel therapeutic targets.
This Special Issue will advance our understanding of promising therapeutic agents and approaches in Alzheimer’s disease. We particularly welcome studies sharing in silico, in vitro, or in vivo methodologies that facilitate the identification and evaluation of potential treatments.
Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- The design of novel small molecules using in silico approaches;
- The repurposing of existing drugs for Alzheimer’s treatment;
- The development of computational tools to evaluate small molecules or antibodies;
- The identification of novel molecular targets in AD;
- Innovative in vitro methodologies to assess potential AD therapies;
- The discovery of new compounds from plants to treat AD.
We look forward to receiving your valuable contributions.
Dr. Martha Cecilia Rosales-Hernández
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.
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Keywords
- Alzheimer's disease
- drug design
- repurposed molecules
- therapeutic targets
- amyloid-β
- β-secretase
- acetylcholin-esterase
- in silico studies
- oxidative stress
- chemical synthesis
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