Flavivirus Infections and Host-Pathogen Interactions
A special issue of Tropical Medicine and Infectious Disease (ISSN 2414-6366). This special issue belongs to the section "Infectious Diseases".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 April 2023) | Viewed by 10292
Special Issue Editor
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
Flaviviruses are vector-borne RNA viruses that can infect a broad range of hosts. In humans, they can cause a spectrum of diseases including hepatitis, vascular shock syndrome, encephalitis, acute flaccid paralysis, congenital abnormalities, and fetal death. Most parts of the world have at least one endemic flavivirus, putting billions of people at risk of infection. Flaviviruses are now distributed all over the world, infecting up to 400 million people each year. The dramatic increase of flaviviruses in the last 50 decades is attributed to continuous climate change, rising population sizes, and improved global travel. Despite, decades of research, there are currently no specific antivirals available for any flavivirus infection. Vaccines are available only for a few flaviviruses, but due to poor vaccination coverage and genotypic shift, the number of cases for these viruses remains quite high. Due to their increasing numbers, ongoing outbreaks worldwide, potential future epidemics, disease severity, global socioeconomic impact, and lack of treatment options, flaviviruses represent an urgent need for the development of effective antiviral agents. The host cellular machinery plays a vital role in the survival of viruses. The outcome of infection is determined by complex host-virus interactions with a large number of altered transcriptional and translational rates, as well as the functional kinetics of participating genes. To date, first-hand information on the molecular changes in the host induced by the virus to promote its replication, and the pathways triggered in the host that result in immunity and/or clearance of the viral infection are still lacking. Having insights into the host responses to viruses would help to define targets for therapeutic intervention. The virus-host interactome also serves as a platform to identify existing FDA-approved drugs or investigational drugs for drug-repurposing for virus infection. One major advantage of the drug repurposing approach is that these drugs can be fast-tracked through clinical Phase II because they have already cleared regulatory hurdles and their pharmacokinetics and safety have been established in preclinical models and early-stage clinical trials. This method significantly reduces the time and cost of drug discovery for viral diseases. In this Special Issue, we are interested in cross-talk between various hosts and flaviviruses—specifically, how host cells interact and the molecular mechanisms underlying the pathophysiologic process of Flavivirus infection. We are also interested in the application of this knowledge for host-directed antiviral/therapeutics for flaviviruses.
Dr. Vinod RMT Balasubramaniam
Guest Editor
Manuscript Submission Information
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Keywords
- flavivirus
- dengue
- zika
- virus–host interactome
- drug repurposing
