Phosphates and Their Analogues in Drug Discovery

Dear Colleagues,

In modern drug discovery, biologically active phosphates and their analogues, including bisphosphonates and nucleoside phosphate derivatives, have a prominent role due to the ubiquitous presence of phosphates in living organisms. Numerous clinical drugs target enzymes that catalyze chemicals related to phosphates, such as kinases, polymerases, and many others. In addition, abnormal metabolism of hydroxyapatite, the key structural component in bone tissue, is implicated in diseases ranging from osteoporosis to metastatic bone cancer.

Phosphate and phosphonate prodrugs providing advantageous pharmacological properties and designed to be converted into an active drug or drug precursor within the body represent a related area of vibrant research. The design and development of such prodrugs refined to selectively deliver a drug to a targeted tissue or organ (or avoid a center of toxicity) are central to further advancement in this effort. Finally, new applications of phospholipids as vehicles to deliver drugs via encapsulation in liposomes or micelles continue to show great promise.

We welcome authors who have conducted original research in any of these or related fields to submit a paper to our Special Issue of Molecules, “Phosphates and Their Analogues in Drug Discovery”.

Prof. Dr. Charles McKenna
Guest Editor

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.