Signaling Pathways in Viral Infection and Antiviral Immunity 2026

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Viral Immunology, Vaccines, and Antivirals".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 October 2026 | Viewed by 63

Special Issue Editors


E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, University of Toledo, Toledo, OH 43606, USA
Interests: antiviral innate immunity; nucleic acid sensing and signaling pathways; RNA signaling; autophagy; cell death and stress response pathways in viral infections
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
Interests: HIV-1; HIV-1 Env; viral entry; macropinocytosis; CD4+ T cells; host-virus interactions; innate antiviral immunity; RNase L; stress granules; integrated stress response

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
Interests: HIV-1 persistence; latency; population dynamics; epigenetics; antiviral innate immunity; stress response pathways

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
Interests: HIV-1; host–virus interactions; innate immune response; viral pathogenesis; type I interferon response; pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) and antiviral immunity

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Virus infection activates a complex interplay of innate immune signaling pathways by engaging Pattern Recognition Receptors (PRRs), such as TLRs, RLRs (Rig-I/MDA5) and cGAS/STING, which detect viral components as PAMPs to trigger type I interferon (IFN) and proinflammatory cytokine production by activating the transcription factors IRF3/7 and NF-kB. Secreted IFN binds to the cell surface IFNAR receptors and activates the JAK-STAT signaling cascade to induce the transcription of various interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) with broad antiviral roles. In addition, host cells activate various types of cell death pathways, autophagy and stress response pathways to provide further defense mechanisms to clear virus infections. Viruses, in turn, have evolved their strategies to counter the host response to sustain productive infection.

For this Special Issue, we invite submissions of original research, review articles and perspectives pertaining to signaling pathways in viral infection and antiviral immunity.

Dr. Malathi Krishnamurthy
Dr. Praveen Manivannan
Dr. Shelby Clark
Dr. Barkha Ramnani
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.

Keywords

  • innate immune signaling pathways
  • antiviral signaling
  • interferon signaling
  • cytokine induction and inflammation
  • host–virus interactions
  • cell death pathways
  • autophagy
  • stress response pathways

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.

Related Special Issue

Published Papers

This special issue is now open for submission.
Back to TopTop