Drug Development and Natural Products Chemistry: A Themed Issue in Honor of Professor Søren Brøgger Christensen
A special issue of Molecules (ISSN 1420-3049). This special issue belongs to the section "Natural Products Chemistry".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 September 2021) | Viewed by 8436
Special Issue Editors
Interests: terpenoids; plant biotechnology; plant biochemistry
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: antimicrobial peptides; immunomodulation; drug delivery
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: drug development; solid malignancies; prodrugs
Interests: tumor biology; autophagy; prostate cancer therapy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Until the end of the 19th century, all drugs were natural products. During the 19th century, chemists succeeded in isolating pure natural products such as quinine, morphine, codeine, and other compounds with beneficial effects. Pure compounds enabled them to accurate dosing to achieve serum levels within the pharmacological window. At the end of the 19th century and during the 20th century, synthetic compounds became the major source of drugs. However, even today, natural products or modified natural products constitute almost half of the drugs used for treatment of diseases such as cancer or diseases caused by parasites such as malaria, leishmaniasis or schistomiasis. During his career, Søren Brøgger Christensen has focused on isolating natural products targeting biomacromolecules. Promising preclinical effects encouraged structure optimization with the goal of developing a drug. The compound Mipsagargin was brought into clinical phase II trials. The present Special Issue of Molecules will focus on the development of drugs from plant to patient. The manuscripts in the issue will reveal the isolation and structural elucidation of natural products, biological investigation of natural products revealing their possibilities for finding hit compounds, targeting compounds toward malignant tissue, and sustainable production of compounds in large scale.
Motivation for this issue of Molecules:
Søren Brøgger Christensen is a Professor Emeritus at the Department of Drug Design and Pharmacology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. He is internationally recognized for his work in the isolation and identification of natural products with significant biological activities. He was involved in the discovery of the antiparasitic effects of licochalcone A and is the co-inventor on several patents in Lica Pharmaceuticals’ intellectual property portfolio. He was the first to elucidate the structure of the cytotoxin thapsigargin. Through intensive studies of the chemistry of this toxin, he was able to develop methods for partial synthesis of the compound ensuring sustainable supply. A number of prodrugs including mipsagargin have been prepared. Mipsagargin has been in clinical trials for glioblastoma and hepatocellular carcinoma. In addition, rational structure activity studies have been performed enabling preparation of a derivative, which potently provokes apoptosis without inducing a rise of the level of calcium ions in the cytosol. This observation strongly suggests that apoptosis induced by inhibitors SERCA is rather caused by emptying the endoplasmic reticulum than by increasing the cytosolic calcium ion concentration. Dr. Christensen has co-authored about 180 peer reviewed scientific publications and is co-inventor on a number of patents. H-index 52.
In honor of Professor Christensen’s outstanding contributions to the development of drugs from plant to patient, this Special Issue of Molecules is devoted to the many aspects of natural products, including their chemistry, pharmacological properties, structural characteristics, structure–function relationship, molecular engineering/drug design, effects and regulation of cellular pathways and gene expression in non-malignant and malignant cells, and therapeutic value. All scientists and clinicians working in these emerging and promising fields of research are strongly encouraged to submit their original works for publication in this Special Issue.
Prof. Dr. Henrik Toft Simonsen
Prof. Dr. Henrik Franzyk
Prof. Dr. John Isaacs
Dr. Nikolai Engedal
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. Molecules 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.
Keywords
- Natural products
- Drug development
- Biomacromolecules
- Structure–activity relationships
- Bioassays
- Regulation of cellular pathways and gene expression
- Preclinical testing
- Sustainable supply
