Immune Responses and Antiviral Strategies Against Emerging RNA Viruses
A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Viral Immunology, Vaccines, and Antivirals".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 February 2027 | Viewed by 12
Special Issue Editor
Interests: RNA viruses; viral fitness; innate immunity; non-coding RNA; autophage; interleukin-27; interferon lambda-1; reactive oxygen species
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated how rapidly the scientific community can respond to emerging RNA virus infections when existing virology and immunology knowledge is effectively integrated. During the pandemic, researchers across diverse RNA virus fields, including HIV, influenza, hepatitis C virus, coronavirus, and other viral systems, rapidly redirected their expertise toward SARS-CoV-2 research. Their collective experience in viral replication, immune regulation, antiviral drug development, vaccine research, and translational medicine substantially accelerated advances in diagnostics, vaccines, antiviral therapeutics, and immune analyses.
Despite these achievements, emerging RNA viruses remain major global threats due to their rapid mutation rates and their ability to evolve under immune and therapeutic pressure. Viral recombination, immune escape, cross-species transmission, and the emergence of drug-resistant variants may strongly influence future outbreaks and pandemics.
This Special Issue aims to collect reviews, original research articles, and perspectives focusing on immune responses and antiviral strategies against RNA virus infections. Topics include innate and adaptive immunity, antiviral cytokines, immune evasion, vaccine-induced immunity, host-directed antiviral responses, viral evolution, recombination, and antiviral resistance relevant to future pandemic preparedness. We also welcome computational and in silico studies, including bioinformatics, systems virology, immune profiling, structural modeling, viral evolutionary analysis, computational modeling, and data-driven approaches related to antiviral immunity and emerging RNA viruses.
This Special Issue seeks to promote interdisciplinary discussion and advance our understanding of host–virus interactions relevant to current and future RNA virus threats.
Dr. Tomozumi Imamichi
Guest Editor
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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.
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. Viruses 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 2600 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
- host–virus interactions
- viral recombination
- immune evasion
- systems virology
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.
