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Cells
Special Issues
The Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Immunity to Infectious Viruses
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The Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Immunity to Infectious Viruses

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Cellular Pathology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (20 October 2025) | Viewed by 546

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Dimitrios Vlachakis

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Genetics Laboratory, Agricultural University of Athens, Athens, Greece
Interests: genetics; epigenetics; exosomes; bioinformatics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Tassos Georgakopoulos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Laboratory of Immunohematology, Division of Hematology, Department of Internal Medicine, Medical School, University of Patras, GR-26500 Patras, Greece
Interests: viral infections; immune cell biology; gene expression programs; epigenetics; chromatin architecture
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Marios Agelopoulos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Center of Basic Research, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, 4 Soranou Ephessiou Street, 11527 Athens, Greece
Interests: viral infections; epigenome architecture and function; inducible gene expression programs; genomics; evolution of cis-acting elements
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are delighted to announce a Special Issue of Cells: "The Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Immunity to Infectious Viruses".

Viral infections dramatically impact human health and occasionally act as causal factors for morbidity and mortality among human populations that can lead to pandemic outbreaks. Immune responses are shaped as defense layers against viral life-cycle progression within human tissues. A hallmark of this function is the establishment of inducible expression programs. Much has been learned due to the advent of cell biology applications efficient in immunophenotyping and next-generation sequencing technologies, genomics applications, and computational biology tools applied to access the regulatory principles of gene expression, which can collectively illuminate the defense mechanisms that hosts utilize to combat viral infections. Advanced studies have characterized a plethora of cell types of the immune system and delineated diverse mechanistic principles, multiple layers of regulation, and cellular components, such as receptors, signal transduction cascades, transcriptional regulatory factors, chromatin complexes, and secreted effectors, committed in defense-specific responses at the cell and tissue levels. Despite the essential knowledge that has emerged, it still remains challenging to comprehend how immune cells establish inducible gene expression programs and shape efficient antiviral/defense responses within the heterogeneous 3D microenvironments of the human body. Hence, disentangling such perplexing phenomena is of paramount importance for an in-depth understanding of the mechanisms of human immunity, within and beyond the context of viral infections.

For this Special Issue of Cells, research articles, research reports, and reviews focused on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of immunity to infectious viruses will be considered for publication.

Prof. Dr. Dimitrios Vlachakis
Dr. Tassos Georgakopoulos
Dr. Marios Agelopoulos
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. Cells 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

  • viral infections
  • immune cell biology
  • gene expression programs
  • epigenetics
  • chromatin architecture
  • cis-regulatory elements
  • functional genomics
  • computational biology applications

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Review

15 pages, 621 KB  
Review
The Pathogenesis and Virulence of the Major Enterovirus Pathogens Associated with Severe Clinical Manifestations: A Comprehensive Review
by Yuwei Liu, Maiheliya Maisimu, Zhihang Ge, Suling Xiao and Haoran Wang
Cells 2025, 14(20), 1617; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells14201617 - 17 Oct 2025
Viewed by 325
Abstract
Enteroviruses (EVs), particularly those within the species Enterovirus A and B, represent a significant global public health burden, especially in infants and young children. While often causing self-limiting hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), certain serotypes can lead to severe neurological and cardiopulmonary [...] Read more.
Enteroviruses (EVs), particularly those within the species Enterovirus A and B, represent a significant global public health burden, especially in infants and young children. While often causing self-limiting hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD), certain serotypes can lead to severe neurological and cardiopulmonary complications. This comprehensive review focuses on the major pathogenic serotypes, including enterovirus A71 (EV-A71), coxsackievirus A16 (CV-A16), coxsackievirus A6 (CV-A6), coxsackievirus B3 (CV-B3), and enterovirus D68 (EV-D68). We began by reconstructing a phylogenetic tree based on VP1 protein sequences, elucidating the genetic relationships and evolutionary patterns among these serotypes, which underpin their diverse antigenicity and epidemiology. Building upon this genetic foundation, the review then provides a detailed synthesis of their distinct pathogenesis, highlighting the five-phase clinical progression from exanthematous phase to convalescence, and their unique tropisms for target organs such as the central nervous system and heart. Progressing to the molecular mechanisms, a critical component of this work is a systematic summary of the specific host receptors that mediate viral entry, including SCARB2 for EV-A71 and CV-A16, sialic acid and ICAM-5 for EV-D68, and CAR/CD55 for CV-B3, explaining the mechanistic basis for their tissue specificity and pathogenicity. Finally, to translate these insights into clinical applications, we critically evaluate the current landscape of vaccine development, noting the high efficacy (~90%) of inactivated EV-A71 vaccines in Asia and the significant global success of poliovirus vaccines, while also addressing the stark lack of cross-protective or licensed vaccines for other prevalent serotypes like CV-A16, CV-A6, and EV-D68. The review concludes that the high genetic diversity and serotype-specific immunity of enteroviruses pose a major challenge, necessitating a concerted shift towards the development of broad-spectrum vaccines and therapeutics informed by an integrated understanding of viral evolution, receptor usage, and pathogenesis. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Immunity to Infectious Viruses)
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