Advances in Antibacterial and Antifungal Peptide-Based Agents
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Medicinal Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 March 2026 | Viewed by 14
Special Issue Editors
Interests: natural antibacterial compounds; antimicrobial peptides; drug discovery; in vitro cell culture; biocompatibility; medicinal chemistry
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The ongoing emergence of drug-resistant and multidrug-resistant pathogens has made the development of new peptide-based antibacterial and antifungal agents more critical than ever. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs), including both naturally occurring and synthetically engineered sequences, are a promising class of therapeutic candidates due to their broad-spectrum activity, diverse mechanisms of action, and potential to overcome existing resistance mechanisms.
This Special Issue, "Advances in Antibacterial and Antifungal Peptide-Based Agents”, invites original research articles and comprehensive reviews focused on peptides and peptide-related compounds with antibacterial or antifungal activity. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Isolation and characterization of novel antimicrobial peptides from natural sources (e.g., animal, microbial, or plant-derived peptides).
- De novo design and rational engineering of antimicrobial peptides, including the use of bioinformatics and machine learning.
- Peptides derived from or inspired by known protein sequences, including fragment-based and sequence-guided design.
- Structure–activity relationship (SAR) and quantitative SAR (QSAR) studies specific to antimicrobial peptides.
- Mechanistic studies of peptide action, including membrane interaction, intracellular targets, and resistance evasion.
- Design and development of peptidomimetics and peptide analogs with enhanced stability or activity.
- Antimicrobial peptides active against biofilms or resistant microbial strains.
- Evaluation of toxicity, selectivity, and in vivo efficacy of peptide-based therapeutics.
- Peptide formulations or delivery systems that enhance bioavailability and therapeutic performance.
- Combinatorial strategies involving antimicrobial peptides with conventional antibiotics or antifungals.
Special attention will be given to peptide-based agents targeting resistant pathogens, including members of the WHO’s priority list, such as Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Candida species.
We particularly welcome contributions that explore innovative peptide scaffolds, novel mechanisms of action, and next-generation strategies for peptide optimization. Studies that address key limitations in peptide therapeutics—such as proteolytic degradation, cellular uptake, or selectivity—are also of high interest.
We are confident that your contributions will help advance the field of peptide-based antimicrobials and contribute valuable knowledge to both the scientific and clinical communities. We look forward to receiving your submissions to this timely and focused Special Issue.
Dr. Ewa Ciszkowicz
Prof. Dr. Aleksandra Bocian
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 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
- antimicrobial compounds
- antifungal compounds
- natural products
- synthetic compounds
- novel antibiotics
- antifungal and antimicrobial drugs
- antimicrobial peptides (AMPs)
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