Related Experiment Video
Updated: May 27, 2026

Rescue of Recombinant Newcastle Disease Virus from cDNA
Published on: October 11, 2013
Influenza virus: a single noninfectious interferon induction-suppressing particle blocks expression of
Christopher P Malinoski1, Philip I Marcus
1Laboratory for Virus and Interferon Research, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, USA.
Abstract:
The interferon (IFN)-inducing capacity of influenza virus plays a significant role in the efficacy of candidate live attenuated influenza vaccines (LAIVs). IFN is induced by a subpopulation of noninfectious biologically active particles (niBAPs) that can be defined and quantified as IFN-inducing particles (IFPs). When chicken embryonic cells were infected with increasing multiplicities of IFP (m(ifp)), the amount of IFN produced was that expected from a Poisson distribution of cells infected with ≥1 IFP. Problematically, some isolates of influenza virus induced less IFN than expected at higher m(ifp). We postulated that these stocks contained another subpopulation of niBAP, IFN induction-suppressing particles (ISPs). A single ISP was assumed capable of preventing IFN production completely in cells coinfected with IFP. Virus stocks were reconstructed to contain a wide range of ratios of IFP:ISP and used to generate IFN-induction dose-response curves. The deviation of the observed yields of IFN from those expected if the virus stock consisted only of IFP fits well the results expected from a formulation of the Poisson distribution that provides the fraction of IFP-infected cells expected to become coinfected with ISP, and hence not yield IFN, as the ratio IFP:ISP decreases. The ideal LAIV might be thought to contain little or no ISP so as to maximize IFN production; however, the most effective LAIV appear to regulate the production of IFN. Thus, it is possible that an optimal ratio of IFP:ISP may exist to produce more effective LAIV, an event that may sometimes occur in nature, or be reconstructed.
Related Concept Videos
Inhibitors of Viral Protein Synthesis
Influenza
Immune Response Against Viral Pathogens
NK Cells
NK cells are a crucial part of our innate immune system, acting as the first line of defense against viral infections. These cells can recognize and kill infected cells without prior exposure to the virus, effectively slowing down the spread of infection. Additionally, NK cells produce proinflammatory...
Leaky Scanning
Viruses with RNA Genomes
siRNA - Small Interfering RNAs
In the cytoplasm, siRNA is processed from a double-stranded RNA, which comes from either endogenous DNA transcription or exogenous sources like a virus. This double-stranded RNA is then cleaved by the ATP-dependent...

