Therapeutic Interfering Particles (TIPs): A Promising Treatment for Viral Infections

Dear Colleagues,

Viral defective interfering particles (DIPs) are produced by many RNA and DNA viruses. Due to their intrinsic ability to efficiently interfere with the replication of standard infectious viruses, there is growing interest in harnessing the inhibitory properties of defective interfering particles (DIPs) and the related defective viral genomes (DVGs) as a therapeutic approach to prevent or treat acute and persistent viral infections. Termed therapeutic interfering particles (TIPs), these engineered versions of naturally occurring DIPs/DVGs are novel antiviral agents and have been applied to various viral diseases as a method to reduce viral load with a putative high bar for the evolution of resistance.

In this Special Issue, we invite discussions on foundational studies of DIP formation, regulation, mechanisms of action, and impact on host fitness; novel methodologies to standardize the quantity and activity of DIPs/TIPs; translational approaches that apply these findings towards the design, stability, safety, and efficacy of TIPs in preclinical models; and review articles that summarize our current understanding of DIP biology, TIP theoretical frameworks, and the utility of TIPs in future clinical applications.

Dr. Jason William Botten
Dr. Rebekah Honce
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 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.