Febrile temperature activates the innate immune response by promoting aberrant influenza A virus RNA synthesis.

Abstract

Fever during influenza A virus (IAV) infection is triggered by the innate immune response. Various factors contribute to this response, including IAV mini viral RNAs (mvRNA), which trigger RIG-I signaling when their replication and transcription are dysregulated by template loops (t-loops). It is presently not well understood whether the fever response to IAV infection affects subsequent viral replication and innate immune activation. Here, we show that IAV infection at temperatures that simulate fever leads to increased antiviral signaling in H1N1 and H3N2 infections. Mathematical modeling and experimental analyses reveal that differential IAV nucleoprotein and RNA polymerase production increase mvRNA and interferon production. Moreover, at the higher infection temperature, mvRNAs with dysregulating t-loops contribute most to the innate immune activation. We propose that fever during IAV infection can establish a positive feedback loop in which elevated aberrant RNA synthesis and innate immune activation can contribute to the dysregulation of cytokine production.