Potential Pharmacotherapeutic Targets in Neurodegenerative Diseases
A special issue of Pharmaceuticals (ISSN 1424-8247). This special issue belongs to the section "Pharmacology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 20 March 2026 | Viewed by 907
Special Issue Editor
Interests: drug design for neurodegenerative diseases; multi-target directed ligands; multifunctional ligands; anti-neuroinflammatory drug candidates and neuroprotection; inflammation; pain; cancer; neglected diseases; psychiatric diseases
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Neurological and neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) are a group of disabling illnesses, including some chronic and incurable pathologies, that represent some of the biggest current challenges in medicine, medicinal chemistry, and other health sciences. These diseases comprise a vast group of neuronal disorders that include depression, schizophrenia, autism, Alzheimer’s disease (AD), Parkinson’s disease (PD), Huntington’s disease (HD), amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), and others, today representing a great socio-economic impact. Regarding neurodegenerative disease, it is estimated that more than 50 million are suffering from some neurological disease worldwide, and in the case of NDs, aging is one of the main risk factors. Notably, all advances attained through medicine and technology have led to an improved human life quality and crescent longevity, especially in the most developed regions of the world. Thus, the epidemiological statistics related to NDs are expected to rise in the coming years. The etiology of such neurological and neurodegenerative diseases are not fully understood, but there is a current consensus that the onset and progression of almost all of them are associated with multifactorial conditions, including genetic predisposition, environmental aspects, epigenetics, inflammation, oxidative stress, and selective neuronal vulnerability. The biochemical and cellular basis of such neurological manifestations have been intensively studied over the last decades, and significant advances have been reached, with deeper learning about their pathogenesis and several newly approved drugs and new therapeutic practices. The complex multifactorial-based pathogenesis of NDs is mainly characterized by protein misfolding, oxidative stress, neuronal loss, and neuroinflammation. Therefore, in recent decades, most of the research projects developed in the academia and pharma inducstries have been dedicated to a better understanding of cellular and signaling changes related to such diseases, as well as to the identification of molecular targets that could be effectively modulated in diverse mechanisms of actions and could lead to the discovery and development of innovative disease-modifying drugs. Thus, considering the lack of efficacy from the available medicines for the treatment of NDs and other neurological conditions, and given that neuroinflammation, autophagy, and oxidative stress play key roles in their pathophysiology, the development of new drug candidate prototypes, considering new molecular targets, higher chemical diversity, and diverse mechanisms of actions, including the modulation of multiple targets addressing anti-neuroinflammation and neuroprotection, could represent a great revolution in drug development and therapeutics.
Prof. Dr. Cláudio Viegas-Junior
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. Pharmaceuticals 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 2900 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
- neurodegenerative diseases
- neuroinflammation
- neuroprotection
- molecular targets
- therapeutic drugs
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.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
