Advances in Understanding Viral Pathogenesis and Host Immune Responses to Arboviruses and Respiratory Viruses

A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Animal Viruses".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 September 2025 | Viewed by 491

Special Issue Editors


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Guest Editor
1. Laboratory of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Biology, Department of Medicine, Hospital de Niños Dr. Ricardo Gutiérrez, Buenos Aires 1425, Argentina
2. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Interests: dengue virus; Zika virus; respiratory syncytial virus; viral immunology; viral pathogenesis; virus–host cell interactions

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Guest Editor
1. Instituto de Química y Fisicoquímica Biológica, Universidad de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina
2. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas (CONICET), Buenos Aires, Argentina
Interests: arboviruses; RNA viruses; chikungunya virus; dengue virus; viral replication; viral genome; virus–host cell interactions
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Arboviruses, including dengue, Zika, chikungunya, and yellow fever viruses, are arthropod-transmitted pathogens that continue to expand their geographic distribution, posing a significant threat to public health worldwide. Despite causing millions of infections each year, effective antiviral treatments and vaccines remain limited for many of them. With global climate change and the increasing spread of arboviruses, there is an urgent need to address the understudied aspects of their pathogenesis to develop effective intervention strategies for future outbreaks.

Respiratory viruses, including influenza virus, rhinovirus, respiratory syncytial virus, parainfluenza virus, metapneumovirus, coronaviruses, and adenoviruses, are the most common causative agents of disease in humans. These viruses are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality, especially in neonates, immunocompromised individuals, and the elderly. Vaccines and antiviral therapy are currently available for only a few of these viruses, which poses a great challenge for continued research on prevention and therapeutic strategies against respiratory viral infections.

With this Special Issue, we aim to explore the pathogenesis of these two important groups of viruses and host immune responses to infections. Understanding viral pathogenesis mechanisms and virus–host immune interactions is crucial for developing safe and effective treatments and vaccines against these viruses with a high impact on global health.

Potential topics of interest for this Special Issue include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • Mechanisms of infection and spread: entry, replication, and dissemination and tissue tropism;
  • Viral evasion strategies: modulation of innate immune responses and mechanisms of persistence;
  • Host factors influencing pathogenesis: genetic and immunological determinants of disease severity and the impact of comorbidities on viral pathogenesis;
  • Innate immunity: role of pattern recognition receptors and interferon and cytokine responses;
  • Adaptive immunity: T cell responses and immune memory formation, B cell responses, and neutralizing antibodies;
  • Cytokine storm and immune dysregulation;
  • Immune modulation and host-directed therapies.

Dr. Laura Beatriz Talarico
Dr. Claudia Filomatori
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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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

  • arboviruses
  • respiratory viruses
  • viral pathogenesis
  • host immune responses
  • innate immunity
  • adaptive immunity
  • viral immune evasion
  • cytokine storm
  • interferon response
  • viral replication
  • viral transmission
  • immunopathology
  • neutralizing antibodies
  • host–virus interactions

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 2033 KiB  
Article
Imiquimod, a Promising Broad-Spectrum Antiviral, Prevents SARS-CoV-2 and Canine Coronavirus Multiplication Through the MAPK/ERK Signaling Pathway
by Josefina Vicente, Freddy Armando Peñaranda Figueredo, Stefania Mantovani, Daniela Laura Papademetrio, Sergio Ivan Nemirovsky, Andrea Alejandra Barquero, Carina Shayo and Carlos Alberto Bueno
Viruses 2025, 17(6), 801; https://doi.org/10.3390/v17060801 - 31 May 2025
Viewed by 365
Abstract
Respiratory viruses can cause life-threatening conditions such as sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome. However, vaccines and effective antivirals are available for only a limited number of infections. The majority of approved antivirals are direct-acting agents, which target viral proteins essential for infection. [...] Read more.
Respiratory viruses can cause life-threatening conditions such as sepsis and acute respiratory distress syndrome. However, vaccines and effective antivirals are available for only a limited number of infections. The majority of approved antivirals are direct-acting agents, which target viral proteins essential for infection. Unfortunately, mutations have already emerged that confer resistance to these antivirals. In addition, there is an urgent need for broad-spectrum antivirals to address the unpredictable emergence of new viruses with pandemic potential. One promising strategy involves modulating the innate immune response and cellular signaling. Imiquimod, a Toll-like receptor 7 (TLR7) agonist, has shown efficacy in murine models of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Additionally, it demonstrates antiviral activity against herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and RSV independent of the TLR7/nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) pathway, with protein kinase A (PKA) as a crucial downstream effector. In this study, we demonstrate that imiquimod exhibits concentration-dependent antiviral activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and canine coronavirus (CCoV) in epithelial cells, underscoring its broad-spectrum action against coronaviruses. Moreover, its anti-coronavirus effect appears to be independent of the TLR/NF-κB and PKA/exchange protein directly activated by cyclic adenosine monophosphate (EPAC) pathways and may instead be linked to the activation of the mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK)/extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) pathway. The ability of imiquimod to inhibit coronavirus replication via the MEK/ERK pathway, coupled with its immunomodulatory properties, highlights its potential as a broad-spectrum antiviral. Full article
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