• Special Issue Topic

    Bioactive Peptides discovery and development

    Submission Deadline: November 30, 2024

    Guest Editor

    Prof. Xuechen Li E-Mail

    Professor of Department of Chemistry, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China

    Research Keywords: synthetic protein; antibiotics; glycoconjugates; drug conjugates


    About the Special Issue

    Peptides have emerged as an exciting therapeutic modality with middle-sized molecular weights and pharmacological properties in between traditional small molecule drugs and therapeutic proteins. Many peptide drugs have been clinically used for various diseases, including antimicrobial peptides, supplementary peptide hormones, peptide-drug conjugates and so on. In addition, peptides hold great promise for disrupting protein-protein interactions (PPIs) and drug delivery.

    The past decades have witnesses great advances in bioactive peptides discovery and development. For instance,  genome mining has led to many new ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides (RiPPs), various chemical methods have been developed to effectively cyclize peptides, peptide ligation allows for efficient synthesis of long peptides, super diverse peptide libraries provide powerful tools for high throughput screening and new knowledges have been gained for peptide intracellular delivery. 

    This special issue calls for the submission in all aspect in peptides, including, but not limited to, new bioactive peptide discovery, biosynthesis, peptide synthesis, peptide delivery, cyclic peptides, peptide-drug conjugates, medicinal chemistry, etc

    Keywords: bioactive peptide, peptide synthesis, ribosomally synthesized and post-translationally modified peptides, peptide conjugates, peptide delivery, peptide high throughput screening

    Call for Papers

    Published Articles

    Open Access
    Original Article
    Bicyclic peptide-enhanced covalent inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease
    Aim: Develop technology to apply bicyclic peptides for discovering covalent inhibitors of proteases and use this technology to create bicyclic peptide—warhead conjugates for targeting the sever [...] Read more.
    Qian Wang ... Shiyu Chen
    Published: October 17, 2024 Explor Drug Sci. 2024;2:719–733
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/eds.2024.00071
    View:423
    Download:20
    Times Cited: 0
    Open Access
    Review
    Chemo-selective modification of cysteine residue: synthesis and application in the discovery of potential drug candidates
    Chemo-select modification of peptides, targeting a handful of the most reactive proteinogenic amino acids (AAs), is gradually utilized to address the medical needs of peptide drugs and biopharmaceut [...] Read more.
    Yanyan Liao, Xuefeng Jiang
    Published: September 06, 2024 Explor Drug Sci. 2024;2:540–554
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/eds.2024.00060
    View:627
    Download:46
    Times Cited: 0
    Open Access
    Review
    Lipopeptide adjuvants for antibiotics and vaccines: the future step in the fight against multidrug-resistant and extensively drug-resistant pathogens
    With the surge of antibiotic resistance in bacteria, the need for a larger arsenal of effective antibiotics and vaccines has drastically increased in the past decades. Antibiotics like vaccines can  [...] Read more.
    Chloé O. Sebilleau, Steven J. Sucheck
    Published: April 29, 2024 Explor Drug Sci. 2024;2:203–233
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/eds.2024.00043
    View:1629
    Download:35
    Open Access
    Perspective
    Daropeptide natural products
    Cyclophane-containing peptides comprise an important group of macrocyclic peptides with unique structural properties and pharmaceutical relevance. Darobactin A is a ribosomally synthesized and post- [...] Read more.
    Suze Ma ... Qi Zhang
    Published: April 19, 2024 Explor Drug Sci. 2024;2:190–202
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/eds.2024.00042
    View:1152
    Download:57
    Open Access
    Review
    Stapled peptides: targeting protein-protein interactions in drug development
    Protein-protein interactions (PPIs) impersonate a significant role in many biological processes and are potential therapeutic targets in numerous human diseases. Stapled peptides, as the most promis [...] Read more.
    Qian Zhang ... Chunqiu Zhang
    Published: April 18, 2024 Explor Drug Sci. 2024;2:154–189
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/eds.2024.00041
    View:2652
    Download:103
    Times Cited: 0
    Open Access
    Review
    Therapeutic proteins immunogenicity: a peptide point of view
    Protein therapeutics are extensively used in the treatment of autoimmune diseases, but a subset of patients appears to be refractory to these treatments, mainly due to the development of an immune r [...] Read more.
    Feliciana Real-Fernandez ... Paolo Rovero
    Published: October 26, 2023 Explor Drug Sci. 2023;1:377–387
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/eds.2023.00025
    View:2141
    Download:82
    Open Access
    Original Article
    Late-stage diversification strategy for the synthesis of peptide acids and amides using hydrazides
    Aim: Modification of the C-terminus of a peptide to improve its properties, particularly after constructing the peptide chain, has great promise in the development of peptide therapeutics. This s [...] Read more.
    Shoko Tanaka ... Kohei Sato
    Published: October 09, 2023 Explor Drug Sci. 2023;1:322–335
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/eds.2023.00023
    View:1598
    Download:60
    Open Access
    Original Article
    A dextrorotatory residues-incorporated bioactive dodecapeptide against enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli
    Aim: This study aims to report an engineered peptide zp39 with favorable bioactivity against enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli (E. coli, EHEC). Its antibacterial mechanisms and application in a  [...] Read more.
    Ping Zeng ... Lanhua Yi
    Published: June 30, 2023 Explor Drug Sci. 2023;1:210–220
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/eds.2023.00014
    View:1068
    Download:27
    Open Access
    Review
    Essential functions, syntheses and detection of sialyl Lewis X on glycoproteins
    It is widely acknowledged that sialyl Lewis X (sLeX), the composition and linkage of which are N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) α2-3 galactose (Gal) β1-4 [fucose (Fuc) α1-3] N-acetylglucosamine, is usually attached to the cell  [...] Read more.
    Qiushi Chen ... Xuechen Li
    Published: February 28, 2023 Explor Drug Sci. 2023;1:31–54
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.37349/eds.2023.00004
    View:3538
    Download:91