Enhancement of Virus Replication in An Influenza A Virus NS1-Expresssing 293 Cell Line

The nonstructural protein 1 (NS1) of influenza A virus, which is absent from the viral particle, but highly expressed in infected cells, strongly antagonizes the interferon (IFN)-mediated antiviral response. We engineered an NS1-expressing 293 (293-NS1) cell line with no response to IFN stimulation. Compared with the parental 293 cells, the IFN-nonresponsive 293-NS1 cells improved the growth capacity of various viruses, but the introduction of NS1 barely enhanced the propagation of Tahyna virus, a negative-strand RNA virus. In particular, fastidious enteric adenovirus that replicates poorly in 293 cells may grow more efficiently in 293-NS1 cells; thus, IFN-nonresponsive 293-NS1 cells might be of great value in diagnostic laboratories for the cultivation and isolation of human enteric adenoviruses.