NCN OPUS grant for research on the role of MDA5 in shaping the interferon response in birds and mammals

04 12 2025

Dr hab. inż. Paweł Sikorski, the leader of Laboratory of Epitranscriptomics in Institute of Bioengineering, Faculty of Biology UW, has received funding from the National Science Centre (NCN) in the amount of PLN 3,999,160 under the OPUS 29 call for the project entitled “Are RIG-I-Like Receptors the Key to Understanding Galliformes’ Susceptibility to Pathogens? Investigating the Role of MDA5 in Shaping the Interferon Response in Birds and Mammals”. The project will be carried out in a consortium with the Medical University of Białystok.

Viral infections remain a major challenge for global health, and the poultry industry is particularly vulnerable because viruses spread easily in large flocks. Outbreaks of avian influenza or Newcastle disease can quickly devastate farms. Animals rely on molecular sensors to detect viral RNA, and in mammals – including humans – this system is fairly uniform: almost all mammals possess two antiviral receptors, RIG-I and MDA5, which recognize different viral features.

In birds, however, the evolution of these receptors is much more complex. Bird species do not all share the same set of RIG-I-like receptors: some have both RIG-I and MDA5, others have only one of them, and these patterns have changed repeatedly over evolutionary time. Ducks, for example, retain both receptors, while chickens have lost RIG-I and rely solely on MDA5. Since chickens are the most widely farmed birds worldwide, understanding how MDA5 compensates for the absence of RIG-I is especially important.

This project aims to clarify how MDA5 functions across humans, ducks, and chickens. Researchers will identify proteins that interact with MDA5 in each species and examine how these interactions shift during an immune response. They will also investigate the post-transcriptional modifications that regulate MDA5 activity in bird cells. Finally, by expressing human and avian versions of MDA5 in engineered cell lines, the study will test whether species differences stem from the protein itself or from the cellular environment.

Because ducks naturally use both antiviral receptors while chickens rely on only one, comparing them provides a unique window into how antiviral defenses evolve and adapt. Insights from this work may ultimately help strengthen disease resistance in poultry and improve control of viral outbreaks that threaten both agriculture and public health.

Details of the OPUS 29 call are available on the NCN website:

https://www.ncn.gov.pl/konkursy/wyniki/2025-11-28-opus-preludium⁩