Current Challenges and Outcomes in Drug Repurposing (Reprofiling) Research
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2020) | Viewed by 482
Special Issue Editor
Interests: antimicrobial activities of molecules of synthetic and plant origin; inhibition of microbial virulence; mycology; Candida spp.
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
One of the most life-threatening outcomes of drug treatment is the failure of biological activity at the target site. This failure type of side-effect is predominantly seen in oncology and infectious disease therapy. Evolutionary-based mutations of cancer and microbial cells are triggered by many factors, and correlate with the use of drugs. In drug-discovery research, there is an urgent need to find a solution for the therapy of drug-resistant cells. Taking into account that for the last three decades we have been faced with very positive outcomes of drug repurposing (synonyms: repositioning, re-tasking, redirecting), giving new marketed indications for already approved drugs. These are a pool of molecules with pleiotropic activities, and their biological features were collected from preclinical surveys, retroactive clinical phase outcomes, and from side-effects collected during pharmacovigilance monitoring. These sources of data are sometimes good starting points for the chemical re-design of a genuine molecule with the aim of decreasing side-effects or increasing activity, bioavailability, etc. On the other hand, computational in silico approaches can give new insights for faster or cheaper chemical synthesis. As noted, drug repurposing has had a successful history and has a feasible future with around 50 repositioning drugs already approved with a novel indication, different than the original one. However, there are a few issues connected with drug repurposing; for example, regulatory and intellectual property rights and patent issues, different dosages than original indication also increase the possibility of higher side-effect alerts and bioavailability in clinical phases for new indications, etc. The positive outcomes and successful stories of the drugs which have already been repurposed animate us to highlight further challenges in this area of research.
This Special Issue will be focused on:
- New targets found in (pre)clinical studies or using structure-based analysis (docking such as receptor–ligand analysis); target-based screens by blocking enzymes or gene expression pathways;
- In silico approaches, computational pre-screening with targeted binding sites;
- Repurposing with the aim of synergizing or potentiating the biological activity of known drugs;
- Solutions for issues raised by regulatory bodies.
All original research papers, perspectives, or reviews on the topics listed above or similar topics are very welcome. We would like to encourage the submission of research (preclinical, computational, clinical) which is focused on repurposed drugs in the emerging area of highly resistant cancer cell lines and multi-drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria or fungi.
Professor Ivan Kosalec, PhD
Guest Editor
Prof. Ivan Kosalec
Guest Editor
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Keywords
- repurposing
- repositioning
- re-tasking
- redirecting
- synergistic
- potentiators
- retrospective clinical study
- target-based screens
- in silico approach
- docking
- drug-resistant cancer cells
- MDR bacteria
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