Vaccines and Antiviral Drugs Against Viral Diseases in Domestic Animals

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 2025 | Viewed by 403

Special Issue Editor

State Key Laboratory for Animal Disease Control and Prevention, College of Veterinary Medicine, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou Veterinary Research Institute, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou, China
Interests: immune evasion mechanisms of major domestic animal viruses; particularly PRRSV (porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus) and FMDV (foot-and-mouth disease virus); as well as the development of marker vaccines, antiviral drugs and diagnostic methods for these pathogens

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Viral diseases in domestic animals pose significant threats to global livestock health, agricultural productivity, and food security. The development and application of vaccines and antiviral drugs represent pivotal strategies in preventing and controlling these infections. While vaccines provide long-term immunity and reduce disease transmission, antiviral therapies offer critical tools for managing acute outbreaks and mitigating economic losses. However, challenges such as viral evolution, host–pathogen interactions, and the need for cost-effective solutions in diverse livestock systems demand continuous innovation. This Special Issue will highlight advances in vaccine technologies, the discovery of antiviral drugs, and their synergistic applications against viral pathogens affecting domestic animals.

We invite submissions of original research articles, reviews, and perspectives addressing (but not limited to) the following topics:

  • Novel vaccine platforms (e.g., mRNA, viral vectors, and subunit vaccines) for livestock viruses;
  • Antiviral drug development targeting viral entry, replication, or host immune modulation;
  • Combination strategies integrating vaccines and antivirals for enhanced disease control;
  • Immune correlates of protection and cross-species immunity in livestock vaccination;
  • Diagnostic tools to evaluate vaccine efficacy and antiviral drug resistance;
  • One Health approaches linking animal and human viral disease prevention;
  • Field applications of vaccines and antivirals in endemic or emerging outbreaks;
  • Viral evasion mechanisms and strategies to overcome them;
  • Next-generation technologies (e.g., CRISPR, AI-driven drug design, and nanotechnology) in veterinary virology.

This Special Issue will foster interdisciplinary collaboration among virologists, immunologists, pharmacologists, and veterinary scientists. Contributions including both fundamental research and translational applications are highly encouraged.

Dr. Jing Zhang
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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

  • vaccines
  • antiviral drugs
  • domestic animals
  • virus

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.

Published Papers (1 paper)

Order results
Result details
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

14 pages, 2139 KiB  
Article
Phospholipase PLA2G16 Accelerates the Host Interferon Signaling Pathway Response to FMDV
by Bingjie Sun, Xiaodong Qin, Taoqing Zhang, Sujie Dong, Yinbo Ye, Changying Wang, Yan Zhang, Rongzeng Hao, Yi Ru, Hong Tian and Haixue Zheng
Viruses 2025, 17(7), 883; https://doi.org/10.3390/v17070883 - 23 Jun 2025
Viewed by 195
Abstract
PLA2G16 is a member of the phospholipase A2 family that catalyzes the generation of lysophosphatidic acids (LPAs) and free fatty acids (FFAs) from phosphatidic acid. Previously, PLA2G16 was found to be a host factor for picornaviruses. Here, we discovered that the Foot-and-Mouth Disease [...] Read more.
PLA2G16 is a member of the phospholipase A2 family that catalyzes the generation of lysophosphatidic acids (LPAs) and free fatty acids (FFAs) from phosphatidic acid. Previously, PLA2G16 was found to be a host factor for picornaviruses. Here, we discovered that the Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus (FMDV) infection led to an elevation in PLA2G16 transcription. We established PLA2G16 overexpression and knockdown cell lines in PK-15 cells to investigate the potential role of PLA2G16 in FMDV infection. Our findings revealed that during FMDV infection, PLA2G16-overexpressing cells had increased levels of phosphorylated STAT1 and the interferon-stimulating factors ISG15 and ISG56. In PLA2G16-overexpressing cells, p-STAT1 was observed at higher levels and earlier than in wild-type cells. Subsequent research demonstrated that PLA2G16 specifically promoted an antiviral innate immune response against FMDV. The host could detect the early release of FMDV viral nucleic acid in PLA2G16-overexpressing cells and trigger the interferon signaling pathway. Additionally, we discovered that the supernatants of PLA2G16-overexpressing cells stimulated the production of higher levels of ISG56 and phosphorylated STAT1. This suggests that PLA2G16-overexpressing cells can activate the innate immune pathway of uninfected cells after FMDV infection. Full article
Show Figures

Figure 1

Back to TopTop