Special Issue in Frontiers in Chemistry: Metal Organic Frameworks for Antimicrobial Prevention and Treatments
Manuscript Submission Deadline 15 September 2024
It has become evident that the mainstream antimicrobial treatments unremittingly fail the control of microbial infections due to the pathogens’ tactics to overcome most drugs. Consequently, multidrug resistant (MDR) pathogens elevation is unswerving. This rise adversely impacts human health globally and imperatively impedes the progress in the pipeline of drug development. Since microbial resistance to antibiotics is a very real and worrying issue developing throughout the world, the discovery of more efficient and mechanistically different antimicrobial agents has a high priority to allow control of infections in the future. Antimicrobial materials play a significant role in various fields, such as water treatment, coatings, food packaging, pharmaceutical, and medicine. In this regard, hybrid materials such as Metal Organic Frameworks (MOFs) demonstrate increased effectiveness due to intrinsic antimicrobial properties. Furthermore, MOFs can be incorporated or attached to polymeric/metallic/ceramic substrates, thus broadening their application within medical indwelling devices or catheter coatings to wound dressings.
With the clinical pipeline of antibacterial drugs running dry, the development of additional novel drugs and strategies with unique target sites on the pathogens are paramount. The goal of this Research Topic is to collect together in one place the most recent and innovative aspects regarding the impact of Metal-Organic Frameworks in both current and future therapies. We believe the topics should showcase the main areas that are relevant for the design and implementation of inorganic materials in antibacterial therapies while concurrently contributing potential compounds as imminent leads for drug development. While impressive antibacterial properties were often reported, many challenges in terms of durability, sustainability, and efficiency in “real world” and clinical conditions remain. Therefore, special attention will be paid to modern synthesis methods to reduce side effects and limit the toxicity of inorganic materials in biomedical applications. This Research Topic is dedicated to original research and review papers of the highest quality that consider the synthesis and design of new antimicrobial inorganic materials (e.g., coatings, films, hydrogels, 3D systems) and/or their mechanism of action which significantly prevent the growth of or eradicate bacteria (planktonic or biofilm). While centred on materials science, contributions to this Research Topic are expected to have significant microbiological/clinical relevance.
We welcome Original Research, Review, Mini Review and Perspective articles on themes including, but not limited to:
• Antibacterial/Antibiofilm activity and mechanisms of MOF-based composites
• MOFs-Metal/Metal Oxide Antibacterial Agents
• Textiles-embedded MOFs
• Health and medical indwelling devices coated/functionalized with MOFs
