Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
7.4
4.2
Journals
Molecules
Special Issues
Chemistry and Bioactivity of Compounds in Nature
molecules-logo
Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Molecules Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Chemistry and Bioactivity of Compounds in Nature

A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2025 | Viewed by 1536

Special Issue Editor

Prof. Moses K. Langat

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Jodrell Laboratory, Richmond, UK
Interests: identification of biochemicals from plants and fungi; structure determination; development of biochemicals to commercially valuable products; natural products as pharmaceuticals; natural products for agricultural management; natural products for cosmetic applications
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Nature is an invaluable source of biologically active compounds with unique structural diversity that are beneficial for life and health, and humans have been using plants and fungi as medicine and for other purposes throughout history. Scientists continuously search for potential medicines in plants and fungi that can help save lives. For example, two compounds, vinblastine and vincristine, from the Madagascan periwinkle Catharanthus roseus have been discovered to be effective against Hodgkin’s disease, a type of leukemia, whereas taxol, from the pacific yew tree Taxus brevifolia, and etoposide and teniposide, made from podophyllotoxin, which is present in the American mandrake plant Podophyllum peltatum, are used in cancer chemotherapy. Plaunotol from Croton sublyratus and Croton stellatopilosus is sold as Kelnac to treat gastritis and gastric ulcers. Cyclosporine, which is derived from the fungus Tolypocladium inflatum, is an important remedy in organ transplantation as an immunosuppressant. Compounds from nature are not only beneficial for pharmaceutical uses, but they are instrumental in nutritional, insecticidal, and industrial purposes. Plants such as pyrethrum, sabadilla, tobacco, and neem have produced compounds with insecticidal activities. Currently, ca 10% of the world’s biodiversity has been evaluated for potential biological activity; thence, the continued discovery of novel compounds is essential. In this Special Issue, we encourage reports of compounds that exhibit good biological activities from nature.

Prof. Moses K. Langat
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

  • plants
  • fungi
  • terrestrial and marine sources
  • compounds
  • biological activities

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

16 pages, 5082 KiB  
Article
In Vitro and In Silico Studies of Maculosin as a Melanogenesis and Tyrosinase Inhibitor
by Yang Xu, Xuhui Liang, Hyeon-Mi Kim and Chang-Gu Hyun
Molecules 2025, 30(4), 860; https://doi.org/10.3390/molecules30040860 - 13 Feb 2025
Viewed by 658
Abstract
The investigation of melanogenesis and tyrosinase inhibitors is essential for developing safe and effective natural compounds to treat pigmentation disorders. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of maculosin, a cyclic dipeptide composed of tyrosine and proline, on melanin production and tyrosinase activity [...] Read more.
The investigation of melanogenesis and tyrosinase inhibitors is essential for developing safe and effective natural compounds to treat pigmentation disorders. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of maculosin, a cyclic dipeptide composed of tyrosine and proline, on melanin production and tyrosinase activity using the B16F10 melanoma cell model, while elucidating its mechanism of action through molecular docking and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Experimental results demonstrated that maculosin inhibited intracellular melanin content and tyrosinase activity in a concentration-dependent manner in B16F10 melanoma cells. Molecular docking analyses revealed that maculosin exhibited high binding affinities with mushroom tyrosinase (mTYR), tyrosinase-related protein 1 (TYRP1), and Bacillus megaterium tyrosinase (BmTYR) with binding energies of −7.7, −6.8, and −7.5 kcal/mol, respectively. Furthermore, MD simulations confirmed the structural stability and dynamic flexibility of maculosin–protein complexes, as indicated by RMSD, RMSF, Rg, SASA, hydrogen bond interactions, PCA, and DCCM analyses. Binding free energy calculations using the MM/PBSA method showed that maculosin exhibited binding energies of −28.76 kcal/mol with mTYR and −22.23 kcal/mol with TYRP1, outperforming standard co-crystal inhibitors such as tropolone (−12.47 kcal/mol) and kojic acid (−12.73 kcal/mol). Critical residues, including VAL-283 and HIS-263 in mTYR and HIS-381, GLY-389, and THR-391 in TYRP1, were identified as key contributors to maculosin binding, corroborating molecular docking findings and displaying strong correlations in DCCM analyses. Collectively, these results suggest that maculosin is a highly promising candidate for the treatment of pigmentation disorders, offering significant inhibitory effects on melanogenesis and tyrosinase activity. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Chemistry and Bioactivity of Compounds in Nature)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-1
Back to TopTop