Non-structural protein 1 (NS1) of the influenza virus plays a crucial role in modulating the host immune response and facili- tating virus replication. The formation of a homodimer or an oligomer is necessary for NSI to exert its function efficiently. In the present study, the NS 1 protein from the A/Shantou/602/06(H3N2) virus (herein abbreviated as NS32) was found to interact with NS1 from A/Shantou/169/O6(H1N1), A/Chicken/Guangdong/1/05(HSN1) and A/Quail/Hong Kong/G1/97(H9N2) (abbre- viated as NS11, NS51 and NS92, respectively) viruses, although NS32 shares 17.4%-20.9% sequence diversity with NS11, NS51 and NS92. This indicates that the heterologous interactions between NS1 proteins from different influenza A virus sub- types/strains may be a common event during co-infection.
LI WeiZhongZHANG HengWANG GeFeiZHANG ChiZENG XiangXingLIU HuiCHEN XiaoXuanXU YanXuanLI KangSheng