Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry

Currently, there are a myriad of degenerative diseases worldwide that, not only lead to high rates of mortality and morbidity, but also impose a significant economic burden on both, families and public health systems. Noteworthy among these are cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases, like Alzheimer’s, Parkinson, lateral amyotrophic sclerosis, Huntington disease, and other different forms of dementia. Metabolic diseases and disorders (diabetes, lysosomal storage diseases, like Tay–Sachs disease and Niemann–Pick C), or joint diseases (e.g. osteoarthritis) are also remarkable examples. These diseases are often complex, with numerous potential aetiologies. A common factor in all of them is a protein misfolding, or aberrant overexpression of a series of proteins, which are frequently implicated as either the cause or a contributing factor in these diseases.

Key enzymes involved in the development of the aforementioned diseases are well validated targets, and therefore, their inhibition is an attractive therapeutic option either to prevent the disease progression, or to alleviate some of the symptoms. The selective inhibition of the appropriate isoforms can also avoid side-effects, preventing the interference with other biochemical pathways.

Both, research articles and reviews can be appropriate and welcome for this Article Collection. The collection could be divided into subtopics, referring to individual diseases, and specific enzymes involved, including but not limited to the ones indicated below:

• Neurodegenerative diseases: cholinesterases (acetyl and butyrylcholinesterases, AChE, BuChE), monoamino oxidases (MAO), superoxide dismultase (SOD), β-site amyloid precursor protein-cleaving enzyme-1 (BACE-1), nitric oxide synthase (NOS), carbonic anhydrases (CAs), protein kinases, glycogen synthase kinase-3
• Cancer: topoisomerases, kinases, glycosidases, carbonic anhydrases, ribonucleotide reductase, thioredoxin reductase, lactate dehydrogenase, proteases, histone deacetylases (HDACs), glutathione S-transferase, aminopeptidase N (APN), cyclin-dependent kinases, ATP-citrate lyase, AcCoA carboxylase, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)
• Metabolic diseases and disorders: α-glucosidase, α-galactosidase, glucocerebrosidase, α-amylase, pancreatic lipase, carbonic anhydrases
• Cardiovascular diseases: xanthine oxidase, kinases, carbonic anhydrases
• Joint diseases: matrix metalloproteinase, cathepsin K, nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), nerve growth factor, carbonic anhydrases

Accordingly, the development of strong and selective inhibitors of key enzymes is a hot topic within Medicinal Chemistry in the search for new chemotherapeutic options tackling degenerative diseases.

 

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­­All manuscripts submitted to this Article Collection will undergo a full peer-review; the Guest Advisor for this Collection will not be handling the manuscripts (unless they are an Editorial Board member).

Please review the journal scope and author submission instructions prior to submitting a manuscript.

Please be sure to select the Article Collection ‘Enzyme Inhibitors for Tackling Degenerative Diseases’ from the drop-down menu in the submission system. Failure to select the appropriate Article Collection can result in delays.

Please contact Sam Zhang at [email protected] with any queries and discount codes regarding this Article Collection.

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