Molecules Targeting the Human Microbiome: Natural Products, Metabolites and Mechanisms
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2026 | Viewed by 153
Special Issue Editors
2. AquaValor – Centro de Valorização e Transferência de Tecnologia da Água – Associação, Rua Dr. Júlio Martins n.º 1, 5400-342 Chaves, Portugal
Interests: biological activities of natural products; chemical characterization of biocompounds; multidrug-resistant pathogens; food and chemical toxicology; nutraceutical and medicinal value of agro-industrial by-products
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: bioactivity; chemical characterization of natural products; identification, quantification, separation, and recovery of bioactive compounds from different food and agro-food byproducts; experimental design applied to extraction and process optimization of natural products
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The human microbiome is a major determinant of host physiology, shaping immunity, barrier function, metabolism, and inflammation through a dense chemical exchange of microbial metabolites and bioactive molecules.
This Special Issue will highlight advances in the discovery, characterization, and mechanistic understanding of molecules that modulate the microbiome and microbiome-derived functions. We aim to bring together contributions spanning natural products, dietary bioactives, prebiotics, postbiotics, and small molecules influencing microbial composition, interspecies interactions, and metabolic outputs (e.g., SCFAs, indoles, bile acid derivatives, phenolic metabolites). This Special Issue will welcome studies using targeted/untargeted metabolomics, molecular docking, in vitro gut models, microbial ecology, and host–microbe assays to connect chemical structure with functional outcomes. We particularly encourage submissions addressing structure–activity relationships, delivery strategies, safety assessment, and translational relevance for human health, including gut, skin, and respiratory microbiomes. Article types may include original research, systematic or narrative reviews, and methodological papers focused on analytical platforms and bioinformatics workflows supporting microbiome–metabolite research.
Dr. Juliana Garcia
Dr. Irene Gouvinhas
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-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Molecules is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly 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 2700 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.
Keywords
- human microbiome
- microbial metabolites
- bioactive molecules
- microbiomes
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