Viral Evasion of Innate Immunity and Drug Development

Dear Colleagues,

Antiviral innate immunity is an ancestral defense system against viruses. It is essentially based on pattern recognition receptors (PRR) which recognize pathogen associated molecular patterns (PAMPs). In vertebrates, viral PAMPs activate signaling cascades leading to the production of cytokines, especially interferons (IFNs), and trigger critical antiviral mechanisms including: nuclease activation; translation inhibition; metabolic reprogramming; autophagy; cell death; and inflammation. On the one hand, pathogenic viruses have developed a variety of systems to evade innate immunity, while on the other hand, overactivation of the innate immune system can be deleterious to the individual, with the overproduction of cytokines and IFNs leading to pathological events. The Special Issue is devoted to (i) characterizing the mechanisms by which viral proteins evade the innate immune system; (ii) the development of drugs that are active on both viral and cellular proteins to counteract the immune evasion displayed by viruses; (iii) the development of drugs that shut off the innate immune system when overactivated in specific pathological conditions.

Prof. Dr. Enzo Tramontano
Prof. Dr. Pierre-Olivier Vidalain
Guest Editors

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