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Structure-Based Antiviral Drug Discovery
This special issue belongs to the section “Viral Pathogens“.
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Despite remarkable progress in antiviral therapy, viral infections remain a major global health threat, affecting billions annually and triggering recurrent pandemics. The emergence of drug-resistant viral strains and the continuous discovery of novel viruses further exacerbate this challenge, creating an urgent need for innovative antiviral drugs.
Structure-based drug discovery (SBDD) has emerged as a pivotal strategy in antiviral development, leveraging high-resolution structural insights into viral targets (e.g., proteases, polymerases, and spike proteins) to design precise, mechanism-driven inhibitors. Amid persistent viral pandemics and the rise of drug-resistant strains, SBDD accelerates lead identification, optimizes binding affinity, and enhances therapeutic specificity—addressing unmet needs in antiviral therapy. This Special Issue aims to compile cutting-edge research on SBDD applications in antiviral drug discovery, covering structural biology advances, computational modeling, structure–activity relationship analyses, and preclinical validation. We invite submissions that advance our understanding of SBDD for diverse viruses and drive translational progress.
We look forward to featuring your impactful research, which will greatly benefit journal readers and the broader scientific community. Thank you.
Dr. Zhao Wang
Prof. Dr. Boshi Huang
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. Pathogens is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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 2200 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
- structure-based drug discovery
- antiviral drugs
- viral targets
- structural biology
- drug design
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