Viruses Special Issue: Retroviral Integration is accepting submissions

Kristine Yoder and Amit Sharma are Guest Editors of a Special Issue of Viruses focused on Retroviral Integration.

Integration is a defining feature of the retroviral life cycle. Major consequences of integration are the ability of the virus to remain latent for extended time and the inability to cure patients infected with HIV-1 or HTLV-1. Advances in the purification and assembly of integrases from multiple retroviral genera have revealed these proteins form a variety of multimeric complexes ranging from the prototype foamy virus tetramer to the Maedi visna virus dodecamer. Integrase-interacting host factors that tether viral integration complexes to chromatin and determine integration site selectivity have been identified for multiple retroviruses. Novel anti-retroviral therapeutics target integrase catalytic function, multimerization, and interaction with host factors. Understanding the fundamentals of integration processes and structure/function of integrases are critical for development of anti-retroviral therapies as well as safer gene therapy vectors. 

In this Special Issue, we invite research papers and review articles focused on all aspects of retroviral integration. Relevant topics include, but are not limited to: structure/function studies of integrase, integrase host factors, trafficking of integration complexes, integration site selection, anti-retroviral inhibitors targeting integration (not limited to integrase inhibitors), latency, and development of retroviral vectors.

The deadline for manuscript submissions to this special issue is May 31, 2022.

https://www.mdpi.com/journal/viruses/special_issues/retroviral_integration_2022