Viral Resistance

Dear Colleagues,

Viral infections are a major public health problem. Continuous viral transmission and increased selective pressure favor the continued emergence of viruses resistant to both vaccines and antiviral drugs.

Mostly, RNA viruses exhibit high mutation rates for the use of RNA dependent RNA polymerases which lack proofreading activity. In this group are included, for example, Coronavirus, Ebola virus, Hepatitis C virus, Dengue virus, Zika virus, Chikungunya virus, Flu A virus, and Enterovirus.

Among DNA viruses, Hepatitis B virus and Cytomegalovirus showed high rates of genetic variability and great ability to develop drug resistance, respectively.

Today, several antiviral approaches are available, but they have several limitations such as the presence of side effects and the appearance of drug resistance that affect their clinical efficacy. Innovative approaches in the study of antiviral drugs can be fundamental in combating the problem of resistance. These strategies include technologies that increase the affinity of the drug for the target, reducing interactions with mutated binding pockets.

Furthermore, other approaches such as virtual screening, targeted protein/RNA degradation, resistance analysis during drug design, genetic editing, and RNA interference might be useful in fighting the emergence of drug resistance.

This Special Issue aims to provide the latest findings on antiviral resistance mechanisms, epidemiology, and all the aspects related to this topic. We invite experts from around the world to submit research articles, reviews, and systematic reviews about different topics, such as:

• Emergence of DNA and RNA viruses resistant to antivirals;

• Identification of new resistance mutation or resistance mechanism;
• Drug mechanisms of action;
• Viral escape against drug therapy;
• Drug design principles to limit resistance development;
• Discovery of new drugs;
• New drug formulations.

Dr. Maria Antonia De Francesco
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.

• antiviral drugs
• resistance
• mechanism
• mutations
• viral escape
• viral adaptation
• variability
• combination therapy