Cellular Immunotherapy and Drug Screening for Viral Infectious Diseases

With a range of serious diseases caused by viruses including HIV, hepatitis B and C viruses, influenza viruses, and emerging viruses such as Ebola virus, Zika virus, SARS-CoV-2, etc., viral infections pose a significant threat to global public health and contribute to high levels of death. Over the years, antiviral therapy development has stepped into a rapid and efficient stage. On one hand, advanced high-throughput drug screening methodologies and technologies such as computer-assisted drug virtual screening have contributed to identifying potential compounds that target pathogenic viruses and inhibit virus replication, which greatly promotes the development of novel antiviral drugs for viral diseases. On the other hand, with the increasing knowledge of host antiviral immunity, targeting and modifying immune response to viral infection for viral infectious diseases has also attracted much attention. Cellular immunotherapy based on the administration of host immune cells, such as T cells, B cells and natural killer cells to target and destroy virus-infected cells, has shown promise in treating viral infections with the enhancement of the immune response, particularly in immunocompromised individuals who are unable to mount an effective immune response.

Further research is urgently needed, focusing on methods to optimize drug screening and cellular immunotherapy and investigating the underlying mechanisms, with the aim of developing new and comparable treatments for viral infectious diseases.

The goal of this Research Topic is to advance our understanding of drug screening and cellular immunotherapy for the treatment of viral infectious diseases. We aim to bring together researchers from various disciplines to share their latest findings, discuss current challenges and future directions, and highlight potential clinical applications of these approaches. We welcome submissions from researchers in the field of virology, immunology, drug discovery, and clinical medicine. Specific themes that we encourage contributors to address include, but are not limited to:
1. Novel drug screening approaches for viral infectious diseases
2. Development of cellular immunotherapies for viral infections
3. Mechanisms underlying cellular immunotherapy and antiviral immune responses
4. Preclinical and clinical studies of drug screening and cellular immunotherapy for viral infections
5. Challenges and future directions for the use of cellular immunotherapy in the treatment of viral infectious diseases

Original Research, Review, and Perspective articles, that address these topics and provide insights into the development of new approaches for the treatment of viral infectious diseases are highly welcome.

Keywords: viral infectious diseases, novel drug and therapy, drug screening, cellular immunotherapy

Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.