Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue of Vaccines includes a collection of reviews and research articles that focus on neutralizing antibodies (NAbs) against SARS-CoV-2 and HIV viruses, covering topics such as the cellular and molecular mechanisms of antibody-mediated antiviral activities, analyses of the antibodies’ epitopes on viral antigens, structural bases of the antibody–antigen interactions, as well as implications of therapeutic developments.

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused immense damage to the global health and economy. The rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines helped to lower the risks of severe disease caused by viral infection. Studies on neutralizing antibodies targeting the SARS-CoV-2 S protein have provided guidance for the development of next-generation immunogens and rational designs of antibody-based prophylactic therapies.

Since its discovery in the early 1980s, the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) has been a threat to human health. High mutation rates led to diverse strains and complex glycosylation patterns, and the multifold immune-suppressing mechanisms help the virus to escape human immune surveillance. Despite nearly four decades of research and development, which includes the more recent discovery and isolation of numerous broadly neutralizing antibodies (bNAbs) against HIV-1, improvements on HIV-1 Env-derived immunogens, various immunization and protection studies, as well as multiple clinical trials, an HIV-1 vaccine that efficiently elicits neutralizing antibodies remains a formidable challenge. However, characterizations of neutralizing antibodies against HIV-1 have provided researchers with guidance to developing the next-generation immunogens and therapeutic antibodies.

This Special Issue aims to provide opinions/commentaries, summaries, and in-depth analyses of neutralizing antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 and HIV-1. In this Special Issue, both original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include but are not limited to:

• Molecular mechanisms of antigen–antibody interactions of neutralizing, as well as certain non-neutralizing, antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 or HIV-1;
• Analyses of antibody epitopes on SARS-CoV-2 S or HIV-1 Env antigens;
• Current progress and limitations of antibody-based therapeutic development;
• Current progress and limitations of Nabs structure-based immunogen design;
• Your proposed topics that you believe would be potentially interesting to our community.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Zhi Yang
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. Vaccines 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 2700 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.

• SARS-CoV-2
• human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1)
• Neutralizing antibodies (NAbs)
• antibody epitopes