Dear Colleagues,

Cells possess all the essential factors and machineries that viruses need to achieve their replication and are therefore the victims of perpetual hostile takeovers from these parasites. This continuous selective pressure they have been exposed to for millions of years has led eukaryotic cells to develop specific factors that are dedicated to antiviral defenses. These intrinsic defenses are now considered as the third arm of immunity, in addition to the traditionally bipartite immune system of innate and adaptive immunity. This notion of intrinsic immunity emerged more than 10 years ago, following the identification of cellular factors that interfere with retroviral replication, the so-called restriction factors. Since the discovery of the prototype antiretroviral restriction factors Fv1, APOBEC3G, and TRIM5a, a plethora of other intrinsic antiviral factors have been identified and interfere with the replication of many different viruses. Although they can be constitutively expressed in given cell types and thus block replication directly, most intrinsic antiviral factors are induced by interferons to amplify their antiviral activity.

Cells have thus recently emerged as new battlefields where virus and host confrontations can be witnessed first-hand, since viruses have to either escape or counteract these intracellular barriers in order to achieve their replication and ensure their propagation.

This Special Issue is intended to provide an up-to-date view of the numerous intrinsic antiviral factors that have been or are yet to be identified and the various strategies developed by viruses to evade these factors.

Dr. Sébastien Nisole
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.

• restriction factors
• antiviral proteins
• intrinsic immunity
• host defense
• antiviral ISGs
• virus-cell interactions

• Intrinsic Antiviral Factors in Viruses (19 articles)