Next-Generation Metal-Based Therapeutics Against Infectious Diseases and Antimicrobial Resistance

Medicinal inorganic chemistry is a well-established and rapidly evolving field that applies metal ions and their complexes to the diagnosis and treatment of disease. By integrating coordination chemistry, bioinorganic chemistry, and pharmacology, it has shown that metal-based compounds can access chemical space and biological mechanisms unattainable with purely organic drugs. The clinical success of platinum-based anticancer agents established the relevance of metallodrugs and continues to drive interest in new metal-based therapeutics. More recently, the field has expanded toward a broader range of metal ions and more sophisticated design strategies, particularly in response to bacterial, parasitic, fungal, and viral infections, antimicrobial resistance (AMR), and neglected tropical diseases (NTDs). Despite these advances, clinical translation of metal-based anti-infectives remains limited, and a deeper understanding of their mechanisms, selectivity, and resistance profiles is urgently needed.

This Research Topic aims to highlight recent advances in metal-based systems for the treatment of infectious diseases, with particular focus on bacterial, parasitic, viral, and fungal infections, AMR, and NTDs. We welcome work on classical coordination and organometallic compounds, as well as emerging platforms such as metal-based nanoparticles, encapsulation strategies, and multifunctional materials for biomedical use.

The collection will gather contributions on the rational design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of metal-containing compounds with antibacterial, antiparasitic, antifungal, and antiviral activity, and on the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects, including interactions with DNA, proteins, membranes, and other biomolecular targets. Special emphasis is placed on innovative approaches that improve selectivity, overcome resistance, tune reactivity, and enable targeted or stimuli-responsive activity.

By bringing together inorganic chemistry, chemical biology, and materials science, this Research Topic aims to provide readers with a state-of-the-art view of how next-generation metal-based therapeutics are being designed, validated, and translated toward real-world clinical and public-health impact.

We welcome Original Research, Review, Mini Review, and Perspective articles addressing recent advances in metal-based therapeutics for infectious diseases and antimicrobial resistance. Submissions integrating chemical, biological, and pharmacological approaches are particularly encouraged, reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of the field.

Topics of interest include (but are not limited to):
-Design and synthesis of metallodrugs targeting bacterial, parasitic, fungal, and viral pathogens
-Mechanistic studies of metal–biomolecule interactions in pathogens
-Redox-active and stimuli-responsive metal complexes
-Photoactivatable and multifunctional metal-based systems
-Strategies to overcome antimicrobial resistance
-Therapies for neglected and emerging tropical diseases
-Metal-based nanomaterials and drug delivery platforms
-Computational and structural studies guiding metallodrug design
-Diagnostic and theranostic metal complexes for infection imaging
-Preclinical, pharmacokinetic, and translational studies of metal-based therapeutics

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Article types

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

• Editorial
• FAIR² Data
• Mini Review
• Original Research
• Perspective
• Review

Keywords: medicinal inorganic chemistry; metallodrugs; metal-based therapeutics; antimicrobial resistance; neglected tropical diseases; bioinorganic chemistry; antibacterial agents; metal nanoparticles

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.