Characterization of Structure-Activity Relationships in Marine Natural Products

Dear Colleagues,

Marine natural products (MNPs) have always played an important role in the discovery of new, structurally unique, bioactive secondary metabolites. Their chemical diversity and their meticulous ability to bind specific targets make them ideal candidates for evolutionally optimized drug discovery projects.

To obtain a full and comprehensive understanding of the mechanisms of action present at a molecular level, and to rationally design new and improved derivatives, it is essential to discern the structural requisites of the active compounds that interact with the biological target. Consequently, a profound characterization of specific structure-activity relationships (SARs) is necessary for the development of MNPs into drugs. Structural information can improve activity, potency, and selectivity, reduce toxicity, and offer drug-likeness properties.

This Special Issue is dedicated to collecting original research articles or reviews regarding MNPs, with emphasis on the discovery of natural or semi-synthetic derivatives that show interesting pharmacological activities.

Dr. Carmen Festa
Prof. Dr. Simona De Marino
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-anonymized peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Marine Drugs is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2900 CHF (Swiss Francs). 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.