Multi-Target Ligands Design and Targeted Drug Delivery

Dear Colleagues,

In drug design for multifactorial diseases such as cancer and neurodegenerative disorders, the "one molecule, one target" approach is generally considered to be too simplistic, leading to low efficacy and safety. Therefore, modern drug design aims to develop a single drug molecule that can interact simultaneously and specifically with two or more targets, or to design ligand-targeted drug delivery systems as a new strategy to improve efficacy and safety and reduce side effects. The rational design of multi-target ligands and ligand-targeted drug delivery systems remains a challenge, both in terms of disease-specific target selection and small molecule discovery. In addition, pharmacokinetic properties, balanced activity, and selectivity are important factors that should be optimized in the development of multi-target drugs and ligand-targeted drug delivery systems.

This Special Issue presents innovations in the field of multi-target ligand development. These include various chemoinformatic methods that enable prediction of the primary pharmaceutical target and off-targets of compounds, computational methods for their rational drug design, advanced synthesis techniques, and biological evaluation.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of multi-target ligands for cancer and neurodegenerative diseases;
• Identification of novel drug targets and signaling molecules in multifactorial diseases;
• Targeted drug delivery systems for innovative therapy of complex diseases.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Prof. Dr. Katarina Nikolić
Dr. Slavica Oljacic
Dr. Marija Popovic Nikolic
Guest Editors

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