Peptide-Based Drugs and Drug Delivery Systems

Dear Colleagues,

Peptides are ubiquitously found as relevant molecular tools in Research and Development, from Molecular Biology to Materials Science, from Synthetic Chemistry to Computational and Structural Biology, from Food Science to Biotechnology, from Early Drug Discovery to the Clinics, from Academia to Industry, etc, in summary, peptides offer no less than a whole world of possibilities to Science and Technology.

Over 150 peptide therapeutics have recently entered clinical trials, a number that remains low, as compared to that of small molecular drug candidates. Still, a paradigm shift in the Pharmaceutical Industry, regarding peptide-based drugs, is under way: until recent years, pharma companies have mostly put their bets on small molecules as drugs, leaving larger peptide-based candidates put aside, on the grounds of their low oral bioavailability and short half-life in vivo, among other limitations; however, small drugs often suffer from reduced selectivity, leading to unwanted off-target side effects, whereas peptides usually display an extraordinary specificity for their targets, which may largely compensate for their low bioavailability, poor permeability and susceptibility to metabolic inactivation. Moreover, chemical methods for peptide synthesis have been gaining efficacy, robustness and capability to produce peptides and peptidomimetics of increasing size and structural complexity, at overall production costs that have been steadily decreasing. Last, but not least, the emergent field of peptide-based materials for biomedical applications, has been gaining prominence.

In connection with the above, the present Special Issue is aimed at covering new approaches, methodologies, and perspectives towards development of peptide-based drugs, materials and drug delivery systems, for biomedical applications.

Prof. Dr. Paula A. C. Gomes
Prof. Dr. Stefania Galdiero
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.