Special Issue "Theranostic Small Molecules"

Dear Colleagues,

The new MDPI journal Drugs and Drug Candidates is exploring the interest of organic and medicinal chemists in a Special Issue entitled “Theranostic Small Molecules”.

The term “theranostic” was first coined in 1998 to define a material that allows the combination of diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up of a disease. The innovations in the field of theranostic small molecules are in line with ongoing efforts to develop more specific, individualized therapies (“personalized medicine”) for diverse diseases and to combine diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities into a single agent.

Since the first definition of theranostics, the concept has been progressing, becoming quite broad in its significance. An enlightening definition can be found in the dedicated journal Theranostics: “Theranostics is a concept that was originally raised to refer to the efforts of integrating imaging and therapy. As an emerging interdisciplinary field, it is related to but different from traditional imaging and therapeutics.”

The field of theranostics is quite developed especially for cancer therapy, but we can also find examples of theranostics for type 2 diabetes, and ever-expanding examples for Alzheimer’s disease, among other diseases. Within many design strategies, the theranostic molecule can explore different imaging techniques such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET), Near-Infrared Fluorescence (NIRF) or Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), depending on the target disease.

Original research papers, review papers or accounts are welcome for submission to this Special Issue. Submissions will be rigorously peer-reviewed.

Dr. Hélio Albuquerque
Dr. Maria Emília De Sousa
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 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. Drugs and Drug Candidates is an international peer-reviewed open access quarterly 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 1000 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.

• (non)targeted theranostics
• leveraged theranostics
• NIRF theranostics
• isotope-labelled theranostics
• chemotherapics
• SNC diseases
• endocrin disorders