Antiviral Peptide
A special issue of Viruses (ISSN 1999-4915). This special issue belongs to the section "Viral Immunology, Vaccines, and Antivirals".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (1 March 2024) | Viewed by 941
Special Issue Editors
Interests: antiviral; peptide; coronavirus; HIV; fusion inhibitor; six-helix boundle; cell-cell fusion
Interests: antiviral; board spectrum; branched peptide; defensin; fusion inhibitor; respiratroy viruses; viral release; viral transmission
Interests: antiviral agent; peptide; HIV; coronavirus; broad spectrum; entry inhibitor
Special Issue Information
Deal Colleagues,
Twenty years ago, the first anti-HIV peptide drug, enfuvirtide (also known as T20), was approved by the US FDA for the clinical treatment of HIV infection, thus opening up a new avenue for the development of antiviral peptide drugs. Since then, numerous antiviral peptides have been reported to be effective against various viruses including severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV), Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV), severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), Ebola virus (EBOV), Hendra virus (HeV), Nipah virus (NiV), influenza virus (IFV), parainfluenza virus (PIV), Zika virus (ZIKV), Dengue virus (DENV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and hepatitis B virus (HBV). Representative antiviral peptides, such as boceprevir against HBV and hepatitis D virus, telaprevir against HCV, and the pan-CoV fusion inhibitor peptide EK1, are now in clinical uses or clinical trials and show advantages including broad-spectrum antiviral activities, low metabolic toxicity, and a high barrier to viral drug resistance. Peptides offer the potential to fill the gap between conventional small-molecule drugs and protein-based drugs and represent a class of molecules that have the specificity and potency of protein biologics but are very amenable to site-specific modification to create new lead compounds. In recent years, much progress has been made regarding the development of medicinal chemistry strategies, contributing to the discovery of new peptide-based drugs that work against current and future threats due to emerging and re-emerging viral pandemics. Therefore, antiviral peptides have become an important component of antivirals and hold great promise for combating chronic and acute viral infections.
For this Special Issue, both research and review articles are welcome. Topics include, but are not limited to, the following research areas:
- The development of antiviral peptides or peptidomimetics targeting virus or host for the treatment or prevention of viral infection;
- In vitro or in vivo evaluation of antiviral peptides or peptidomimetics;
- Preclinical or clinical studies of antiviral peptides;
- The application of artificial intelligence for the discovery or optimization of antiviral peptides;
- Novel medicinal chemistry strategies and drug targets in antiviral peptide discovery.
Dr. Shuai Xia
Dr. Hanjun Zhao
Dr. Chao Wang
Guest Editors
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
- antiviral agent
- coronavirus
- defensin
- enveloped viruses
- entry inhibitor
- fusion inhibitor
- HIV
- peptide
- respiratory viruses
- drug design
- novel target
- medicinal chemistry strategies
