Bacterial and Fungal Toxins for Future Vaccine Developments

Dear Colleagues,

Routine immunization programs include vaccines targeting diphtheria, tetanus and pertussis toxins in order to prevent the spread of disease caused by these common pathogens. Indeed, the pathogenicity of many bacterial and fungal species is caused by the expression and secretion of toxins that trigger host cell damage and inflammation, while toxin-deficient mutants frequently remain apathogenic. Thus, protective host immune responses are usually associated with the induction of toxin-neutralizing antibodies at the site of infection and colonization. When the protective effect has been demonstrated, neutralizing antibody titers are considered immune correlates of protection and can be used for vaccine developments.

In this Special Issue of Toxins, we aim to publish a series of articles assessing the potential of bacterial and fungal toxins as targets for use in new vaccine developments. Toxin-producing species include nosocomial pathogens such as S. aureus, pathogenic E. coli and C. difficile, and enteric pathogens such as Shigella spp. and Campylobacter spp. However, they can also address biothreat-related agents such as B. anthracis and plant toxins such as ricin, as well as fungi like Mucorales. Researchers and developers studying toxin-mediated diseases and toxin-based vaccine developments or monoclonal antibodies for passive immunization are cordially invited to submit original papers and reviews analyzing the protective potential of immunization against the respective toxins. Submitted research can be include studies on the immunogenicity of toxins, the neutralizing potential of antibodies, detection methods, in vivo challenge models, clinical studies, and the description of toxin variants and engineered mutants.

Prof. Dr. Isabelle Bekeredjian-Ding
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 double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Toxins 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 2700 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.

• toxins
• mycotoxins
• plant
• bacterial
• vaccine
• monoclonal antibody
• immunization
• neutralizing antibodies
• anti-toxin