Computational Mapping of Viral Immune Escape and Next-Generation Vaccine Strategies

Emerging and re-emerging viruses continuously evolve under host immune pressure, leading to antigenic drift, immune escape, and reduced effectiveness of vaccines and therapeutic antibodies. The global experience with SARS-CoV-2 has demonstrated how rapidly accumulating mutations in spike and other immunodominant proteins can compromise neutralizing antibody responses and necessitate iterative vaccine updates. Similar challenges are observed in Influenza A virus and other RNA viruses with high mutation rates. Advances in immunoinformatics, structural bioinformatics, and genomic surveillance now allow systematic mapping of immune epitopes, prediction of escape-associated mutations, and evaluation of population-level HLA coverage. Integrating these approaches offers a powerful framework to anticipate immune evasion and guide the rational design of more durable, variant-resilient countermeasures.This Research Topic aims to address a central challenge in modern virology and vaccinology: how to predict and mitigate immune escape before it undermines population-level protection. Rather than focusing on small-molecule docking or drug repurposing pipelines, this Topic will emphasize computational and translational strategies that map immune-relevant variation and translate these insights into improved antigen design.Specifically, we seek to promote predictive frameworks that integrate viral genomics, epitope mapping, structural modeling, immunodominance profiling, and host genetic diversity (e.g., HLA distribution) to identify conserved, escape-resistant targets. By leveraging machine learning, phylodynamics, and large-scale sequence repositories, contributors can explore how mutational landscapes shape B-cell and T-cell epitope stability, cross-reactivity, and vaccine durability. Ultimately, this Topic aims to support the development of variant-aware antigen selection strategies, rational vaccine update criteria, and next-generation immunogens capable of maintaining efficacy across evolving viral lineages.This Research Topic welcomes contributions addressing, but not limited to, the following themes:- Computational prediction and validation of B-cell and T-cell epitopes- Mapping and modeling of immune escape mutations- Integration of genomic surveillance with immunoinformatics- Structural and evolutionary analysis of antigenic drift- Variant-aware vaccine design and update frameworks- Population-level immune coverage and HLA-informed strategies- Cross-protective and pan-viral immunogen designWe invite Original Research, Methods, Reviews, Mini-Reviews, and Perspective articles. Studies combining computational prediction with experimental validation are particularly encouraged. Topic editors: Arif Nur Muhammad Ansori, Arli Aditya Parikesit, Sinosh Skariyachan, PhD, Youdiil Ophinni Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/79191/computational-mapping-of-viral-immune-escape-and-next-generation-vaccine-strategies