Advanced Dendritic and Hyperbranched Polymers

Dear Colleagues,

Antibacterial resistance has become a global threat; of particular importance are multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria, with a broad spectrum of virulence factors. Multidrug resistance is overrepresented in Gram-negative bacteria, where the outer and inner membranes are effective barriers against most antibacterial agents. Recently, there has been a noticeable trend towards targets in the outer membrane in preclinical projects. Most solutions are currently focused on finding the best permeabilizer of the bacterial membrane as the main mechanism of action to kill bacteria. Recent studies have shown the great potential of dendritic polymers, which may represent a new class of bacterial membrane permeabilizers. In this regard, the mechanisms of permeabilization of the outer bacterial membrane due to dendritic and hyperbranched polymers have now become of significant interest. We believe that knowledge of how dendritic polymers disrupt the bacterial membrane to carry out antibacterial activities is crucial in order to further develop potent and effective antibacterial agents.

For this Special Issue, we invite submissions in the form of manuscripts focusing on dendritic and hyperbranched polymers that could be applied in biomedicine as new bacterial membrane permeabilizer agents.

Dr. Karol Ciepluch
Dr. Javier Sánchez-Nieves
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. Polymers 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.