Protease Inhibitors: A Promising Therapeutic Strategy for Human and Infectious Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

Proteases are one of the largest and most important groups of enzymes. They selectively catalyze the hydrolysis of peptide bonds and can be divided into five main classes: cysteine, serine, threonine, aspartic and metallo-proteases.

Proteases are involved in a number of relevant physiological processes, including protein turnover, digestion, cell differentiation and growth, immune response and apoptosis.

Uncontrolled or undesired proteolysis can lead to many pathological states, including cancer, inflammatory, autoimmune or neurodegenerative diseases.

At the same time, several proteases play a crucial role in the virus, protozoa and bacteria lifecycles; thus, they are recognized as ideal targets for the design of novel effective agents for the treatment of infectious diseases.

In this Special Issue, we aim to provide evidence for the most innovative targets that scientists have identified to develop novel protease inhibitors endowed with strong therapeutic potential.

Prof. Dr. Roberta Ettari
Guest Editor

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