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► Journal BrowserSpecial Issue "SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein: Pathogenesis, Variants, Immunogenicity, Vaccines, and Potential Therapies"
A special issue of Vaccines (ISSN 2076-393X).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 December 2023 | Viewed by 3171
Special Issue Editors
Interests: humoral responses in influenza vaccination; humoral responses in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 vaccination
Interests: innate immunity; cytokine signaling; immunopathology
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The emergence and global spread of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has been estimated to have led to the infection of over a half billion people and caused over 6 million deaths. SARS-CoV-2 infection primarily depends on the interaction of its spike protein with the host cell receptor ACE2. SARS-CoV-2 spike protein is a class I fusion transmembrane glycoprotein composed of S1 and S2 subunits. The S1 subunit contains an N-terminal domain (NTD) with unclear function, and a receptor-binding domain (RBD) which binds to ACE2. The S2 subunit includes the fusion peptides Heptad repeat 1 and 2, and it directly mediates viral fusion and host entry after cleavage by host proteases such as TMPRSS2 and furin. These facts clearly demonstrate the critical roles of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in virus pathogenesis and transmission, making it an important target for developing therapeutics and vaccines.
SARS-CoV-2 spike-based vaccines have been proven a huge success in eliciting protective humoral and cellular immunity and mitigating the disease. Other spike-targeting therapies including natural products, antiviral peptides, natural lectins, monoclonal neutralizing antibodies, and convalescent plasmas have also been developed, and some of them are effective in clinics. However, mutations do occur within the spike region, leading to improved transmissibility and/or enhanced ability to evade anti-viral therapies of SARS-CoV-2. Since it first began circulating, the WHO has identified five variants of concern: Alpha (B.1.1.7), Beta (B.1.351), Gamma (P.1), Delta (B.1.617.2) and Omicron (B.1.1.529). Omicron has further emerged into BA.1, BA.2, BA.2.12.1, BA.3, and BA.4/5 subvariants, which have displayed further immune escape, compromising current vaccine and antibody effectiveness.
The fact that SARS-CoV-2 continues to evolve ignites concerns about future emerging variants. Improving our understanding the spike protein, including its structural features, pathogenesis, receptor binding patterns, mutations, and immunogenicity, has become a pressing need for better vaccine design and therapeutic strategies. Based on your expertise in this field, we are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue with original research articles and reviews focusing on, but not limited to, the following aspects:
- Studies that broaden our current understandings of spike protein’s roles in SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis.
- Insights into host humoral and cellular responses against spike proteins.
- Novel approaches for spike mutation predictions and mechanisms of immune evasion.
- Exploration of next-generation vaccine, pan-beta coronavirus vaccine, pan-human endemic coronavirus vaccine developments and potential anti-COVID therapies.
- Interdisciplinary technologies or platforms to accelerate the development of new anti-COVID therapies.
We look forward to receiving your contributions.
Best regards,
Dr. Hanzhong Ke
Dr. Zhaoqi Yan
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. Vaccines is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly 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
- SARS-CoV-2
- COVID-19
- spike
- pathogenesis
- variants
- immunogenicity
- vaccines
- therapies