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Updated: May 4, 2026

Generation, Amplification, and Titration of Recombinant Respiratory Syncytial Viruses
Published on: April 4, 2019
Respiratory syncytial virus mechanisms to interfere with type 1 interferons
1Center for Gene Regulation in Health and Disease, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Cleveland State University, 2121 Euclid Avenue, Cleveland, OH, 44115, USA, s.barik@csuohio.edu.
Abstract:
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a member of the Paramyxoviridae family that consists of viruses with nonsegmented negative-strand RNA genome. Infection by these viruses triggers the innate antiviral response of the host, mainly type I interferon (IFN). Essentially all other viruses of this family produce IFN suppressor functions by co-transcriptional RNA editing. In contrast, RSV has evolved two unique nonstructural proteins, NS1 and NS2, to effectively serve this purpose. Together, NS1 and NS2 degrade or sequester multiple signaling proteins that affect both IFN induction and IFN effector functions. While the mechanism of action of NS1 and NS2 is a subject of active research, their effect on adaptive immunity is also being recognized. In this review, we discuss various aspects of NS1 and NS2 function with implications for vaccine design.
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