Biological Neurotoxins and Brain Health
A special issue of Toxins (ISSN 2072-6651).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 236
Special Issue Editors
Interests: neurotoxinology; neurotoxicology; systems biology; environmental neurology
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: environmental toxins; neurodevelopmental disorders; neurodegenerative disease; DNA damage/repair; human neural stem cells
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Examples of biological chemicals with neurotoxic potential include bacterial toxins (bongkrekic acid, toxoflavin, botulinum) and cyanobacterial toxins (anatoxins, saxitoxin), mycotoxins (gyromitrin, 3-nitropropionic acid, ochratoxin A), algal toxins (brevetoxin, domoic acid, microcystins), plant toxins (annonacin, coriamyrtin, cyanogens), and animal toxins (conotoxin, dendrotoxin, maculotoxin). Some biological chemicals with neurotoxic potential are used therapeutically, especially in cancer chemotherapy (etoposide, paclitaxel, vincristine). Other biologics (N,N-dimethyltryptamine, mescaline, psilocybin) are employed for their psychotropic properties. The molecular mechanisms, cellular and human health effects of all such chemicals are covered in this Special Issue.
Human disorders associated with exposure to such agents range from acute, reversible effects on the brain (e.g., seizures) and neuromuscular function (paralysis), to chronic conditions often associated with repeated exposures (peripheral neuropathy), to the question of progressive neurodegenerative conditions (amyotrophic lateral sclerosis) that surface clinically years or decades following exposure.
Papers are welcome that (a) seek to understand the sources and mechanisms of exposure to biological chemicals with neurotoxic potential–whether environmental, microbiomic or endogenous in origin, (b) explore molecular mechanisms that respond to the biologic’s neurotoxic effect, and (c) describe the cellular changes that result in preclinical and eventually clinical disease.
Prof. Dr. Peter S. Spencer
Prof. Dr. Glen Kisby
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 double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins 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 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use correct English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- bacterial
- cyanobacterial
- algal
- plant
- animal toxins
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