Discovering New Drug Targets for Neurodegenerative Disorders

Dear Colleagues,

Neurodegenerative disorders share familiar pathological features, including the selective deterioration and progressive loss of synapses and neurons as well as the accumulation of certain proteins into insoluble aggregates in damaged neurons and glial cells. However, these disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), display great diversity in their clinical phenotypes. Despite the advancements in the treatments of these disorders, there is no effective disease-modifying therapy available so far. Current treatment options are only beneficial in the temporary improvement of symptoms. In particular, the multifaceted nature of these disorders, affected by many pathological mechanisms, is one of the major obstacles that needs to be defeated to find an effective cure.

This Special Issue aims to provide deep mechanistic insights into new treatment strategies in targeted drug development against neurodegenerative disorders. It is our great pleasure to invite you to submit original research articles and reviews associated with the identification of natural and synthetic compounds that are effective against neurodegenerative disorders and that act on relevant signaling pathways and downstream molecular targets involved in the deregulation of neurogenesis.

Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Oxidative mechanisms in neurodegenerative disorders;
• Therapeutic targets for Alzheimer’s disease;
• Therapeutic targets for Parkinson’s disease;
• Therapeutic targets for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS);
• In silico approaches against neurodegenerative disorders;
• The importance of the blood–brain barrier (BBB) in neurodegenerative disorders;
• In vitro and in vivo activity studies against neurodegenerative disorders;
• Nanoparticles and their use in neurodegenerative disorders;
• Determination of the pharmacokinetic parameters of compounds that are effective against neurodegenerative disorders;
• Current treatment strategies for neurodegenerative disorders;
• Synthesis and evaluation of new compounds against neurodegenerative disorders.

Dr. Halil İbrahim Ciftci
Dr. Belgin Sever
Dr. Flora Vidadi Hajiyeva
Prof. Dr. Mutlu Aytemir
Guest Editors

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