Viruses are ubiquitous in the environment and continue to have a profound impact on human health and disease. Over the last 3 decades, epidemics of emerging viral diseases including Avian influenza, Ebola, Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and several others have occurred in different parts of the world. The most recent global health threat is Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) caused by the novel coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2.
The outcome of most viral diseases is determined by the balance between viral replication and host antiviral immunity. The severity of virus-induced pathology is often directly proportional to the viral load, which is inversely proportional to the level of host antiviral immunity. However, effective immune response against some emerging viruses such as SARS-Cov-2, Monkeypox Virus, and others, as well as the complex mechanisms of viral infection and viral clearance, are still under analysis.
In particular, SARS-CoV-2 exhibits variable immunity responses among hosts based on symptom severity. Specifically, the immune response via cellular immunity creates superior resistance to viral mutations, which are currently the greatest threat to the global vaccination campaign. In this regard, the determination of immune memory status against SARS-CoV-2 might help identify reinfection risk and vaccine efficacy.
Different immunological assays might be incorporated into clinical research linked to viral infections, including ELISPOT, intracellular cytokine staining, AIM test, HLA-multimers, immune profiling, and single-cell RNA sequencing). In recent years, innovative technologies have been developed based on multiparametric flow cytometry (MFC) combining different markers capable of characterizing subpopulations of immune cells, such as granulocytes, monocytes, and lymphocytes. The phenotypic and functional analysis of these circulating cells represents a still valid cross-sectional approach applicable to various viral pathologies for biomarker discovery.
The overall aim of this Special Issue is to boost the development of immunological biomarkers that should be used to guide therapeutic selection of virus-infected patients and to analyze the mechanisms of action of novel immunotherapy and vaccine strategies. We would gather a comprehensive overview of innate and adaptive immune responses in emerging viral infections with particular focus on systemic cellular immune responses. Therefore, we welcome the submission of Reviews and Original Research articles covering the following topics:
1. Novel insights in the study of systemic immune response in emerging and re-emerging viral infections.
2. Recent advances in the field of vaccination platforms that may provide long-term cellular immune protection against emerging and re-emerging viral infections.
3. Dissection of phenotypic and functional properties of peripheral blood immune cell subsets and their potential role as target for therapies and immunological biomarkers of clinical outcome and vaccine efficacy.
4. Innovative approaches for immunomonitoring and research of circulating /systemic immunological biomarkers and immune correlates of protection with particular emphasis on multiparametric Flow-cytometry-based methods. Standardization and harmonization issues, related to problems of sample collection and processing will be also considered.
Viruses are ubiquitous in the environment and continue to have a profound impact on human health and disease. Over the last 3 decades, epidemics of emerging viral diseases including Avian influenza, Ebola, Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS), and several others have occurred in different parts of the world. The most recent global health threat is Coronavirus disease 19 (COVID-19) caused by the novel coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2.
The outcome of most viral diseases is determined by the balance between viral replication and host antiviral immunity. The severity of virus-induced pathology is often directly proportional to the viral load, which is inversely proportional to the level of host antiviral immunity. However, effective immune response against some emerging viruses such as SARS-Cov-2, Monkeypox Virus, and others, as well as the complex mechanisms of viral infection and viral clearance, are still under analysis.
In particular, SARS-CoV-2 exhibits variable immunity responses among hosts based on symptom severity. Specifically, the immune response via cellular immunity creates superior resistance to viral mutations, which are currently the greatest threat to the global vaccination campaign. In this regard, the determination of immune memory status against SARS-CoV-2 might help identify reinfection risk and vaccine efficacy.
Different immunological assays might be incorporated into clinical research linked to viral infections, including ELISPOT, intracellular cytokine staining, AIM test, HLA-multimers, immune profiling, and single-cell RNA sequencing). In recent years, innovative technologies have been developed based on multiparametric flow cytometry (MFC) combining different markers capable of characterizing subpopulations of immune cells, such as granulocytes, monocytes, and lymphocytes. The phenotypic and functional analysis of these circulating cells represents a still valid cross-sectional approach applicable to various viral pathologies for biomarker discovery.
The overall aim of this Special Issue is to boost the development of immunological biomarkers that should be used to guide therapeutic selection of virus-infected patients and to analyze the mechanisms of action of novel immunotherapy and vaccine strategies. We would gather a comprehensive overview of innate and adaptive immune responses in emerging viral infections with particular focus on systemic cellular immune responses. Therefore, we welcome the submission of Reviews and Original Research articles covering the following topics:
1. Novel insights in the study of systemic immune response in emerging and re-emerging viral infections.
2. Recent advances in the field of vaccination platforms that may provide long-term cellular immune protection against emerging and re-emerging viral infections.
3. Dissection of phenotypic and functional properties of peripheral blood immune cell subsets and their potential role as target for therapies and immunological biomarkers of clinical outcome and vaccine efficacy.
4. Innovative approaches for immunomonitoring and research of circulating /systemic immunological biomarkers and immune correlates of protection with particular emphasis on multiparametric Flow-cytometry-based methods. Standardization and harmonization issues, related to problems of sample collection and processing will be also considered.
