From Prediction to Experimental Assays of More Selective and Cleaner Bioactive Synthetics: A Systemic View

A special issue of Life (ISSN 2075-1729). This special issue belongs to the section "Pharmaceutical Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 November 2025 | Viewed by 684

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa 58051-900, Brazil
Interests: organic synthesis; supramolecular and medicinal chemistry; clean chemistry of bioactive synthetics

E-Mail
Guest Editor
Department of Chemistry, Federal University of Paraíba, João Pessoa 58051-900, Brazil
Interests: organic synthesis and intellectual property; natural products and bioactive synthetics

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is a very fine line between desired activity and unwanted toxicity. In general terms, the aim is to develop selective bioactives, which are active against microorganisms and not humans. To this end, it is interesting to correlate predicted properties and experiments, whose results can both validate and improve bioinformatics programs, such as ADMET and predicted activities, and elucidate more assertive paths. Furthermore, the results can corroborate studies that investigate the interaction and action mechanisms behind promising bioactives. On the other hand, toxicity goes beyond cytotoxicity, becoming an environmental concern. In this sense, the search for bioactives through cleaner approaches is beneficial, especially due to potential ecotoxicity. Considering the possible disposal of drugs in the aquatic environment, toxicity experiments on Artemia salina larvae have been used as an indicative of ecotoxicity. Regarding cleaner approaches, the key aspects include prevention and reduction, such as reactions with green solvents or, preferably, solvent-free, safe reactional conditions; short reaction times; easy workup processes; and no additional purification step, making synthetic processes more economical and reducing their environmental impact. Additionally, whenever possible, preference is given to bioactives from renewable natural sources, adding biological value. This Special Issue is dedicated to compiling articles that highlight in silico/vitro activity/toxicity and its correlations.

Prof. Dr. Gabriela Fiss
Prof. Dr. Petrônio Filgueiras de Athayde-Filho
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • antimicrobial activity
  • artemia salina
  • bioinformatics
  • drug research
  • green chemistry
  • lipophilicity
  • medicinal chemistry

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

17 pages, 1407 KB  
Article
The Brazilian Caatinga Biome as a Hotspot for the Isolation of Antibiotic-Producing Actinomycetota
by Sayoane Pessoa Fernandes, Luana Layse Câmara de Almeida, Adrielly Silva Albuquerque de Andrade, Lucas Silva Abreu, Yuri Mangueira Nascimento, Thalisson Amorim de Souza, Evandro Ferreira da Silva, Fabiana Caroline Zempulski Volpato, Afonso Luis Barth, Josean Fechine Tavares, Demetrius Antonio Machado de Araújo, Valnês da Silva Rodrigues-Junior and Samuel Paulo Cibulski
Life 2025, 15(10), 1494; https://doi.org/10.3390/life15101494 - 23 Sep 2025
Viewed by 184
Abstract
Antimicrobial resistance represents a critical global health challenge, intensifying the urgency of discovering novel antibiotics. Actinomycetota species, the most prolific source of clinical antibiotics, remain underexplored in unique ecosystems. In this study, we isolated 340 Actinomycetota strains from soils of the Brazilian semiarid [...] Read more.
Antimicrobial resistance represents a critical global health challenge, intensifying the urgency of discovering novel antibiotics. Actinomycetota species, the most prolific source of clinical antibiotics, remain underexplored in unique ecosystems. In this study, we isolated 340 Actinomycetota strains from soils of the Brazilian semiarid Caatinga biome. Screening revealed that 122 isolates (35.9%) exhibited antimicrobial activity against clinically relevant pathogens (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus, and Candida albicans). Notably, 19 isolates showed activity against Mycobacterium tuberculosis H37Ra. MALDI-TOF MS analysis successfully provided genus-level identification for a subset of isolates, with approximately 32% assigned to the Streptomyces genus. However, the limited resolution of the database for the majority of the strains indicates high phylogenetic diversity and suggests the presence of potentially novel species. Metabolomic profiling via LC-MS/MS and GNPS molecular networking suggested the production of known antibiotics such as actinomycins, cyclomarins and anthracyclines and unveiled distinct molecular families putatively assigned to undescribed metabolites. Our work establishes the Caatinga biome as a valuable reservoir of bioactive Actinomycetota, encoding both known and potentially novel antimicrobial compounds. These results underscore the potential of underexplored and extreme environments in the quest to overcome antibiotic resistance. Full article
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