mRNA Vaccines Against Viral Infectious Diseases: Progress and Prospects
A special issue of International Journal of Molecular Sciences (ISSN 1422-0067). This special issue belongs to the section "Molecular Microbiology".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026
Special Issue Editors
Interests: viral infections; RNA viruses; retroviruses; HIV-1; endogenous retroviruses; virus-host interactions; immune response to viral infections; innate immunity; vaccines
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: infectious disease; viral pathogenesis; retrovirus; non-human primate model; HIV/AIDS vaccine; molecular epidemiology; immune response; coinfections
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: HIV infection and pathogenesis; HIV-1–host interaction; HCV/HIV co-infection
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Developing safe and effective vaccines against viral infectious diseases continues to be one of the greatest challenges in biomedical research. Despite significant advances in our understanding of viral biology and pathogenesis, vaccine design remains challenging due to the high genetic diversity and rapid evolutionary dynamics of certain viruses, as well as their ability to evade immune responses or persist in latent forms. Since the introduction of the first licensed mRNA-based vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, the advent of mRNA vaccine technology has paved the way for innovative strategies to combat newly emerging infectious diseases, various cancers, and pathogens for which vaccines have yet to be developed.
This Special Issue aims to provide an overview on recent advances in this field, including innovations in mRNA design and structure (mRNA chemical modification, sequence optimization, structural engineering), nanoparticle delivery, immunization strategies, modulation of immunogenicity, and mechanisms of immune activation. Ultimately, we hope that it will stimulate discussion of the current challenges, outline future research directions, and provide a foundation for the development of mRNA vaccines against viral infectious diseases. We invite you to contribute to this Special Issue of the International Journal of Molecular Sciences in the form of original research articles, reviews, or brief communications.
Dr. Barbara Ridolfi
Dr. Maria Teresa Maggiorella
Dr. Ivan Schietroma
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- viruses
- mRNA vaccines
- mRNA structure
- mRNA platform technologies
- lipid nanoparticle (LNP) delivery
- immunization strategies
- adjuvants
- preclinical trials
- clinical trials
- germline-targeting
- broadly neutralizing antibodies
- humoral immune response
- cellular immune response
- host–vaccine interactions
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