Exploited defense: how influenza viruses take advantage of antiviral signaling responses

Influenza virus infection results in the activation of a variety of intracellular signaling responses. With regard to the function of these responses, the overall picture that has emerged suggests that most of the signaling events are initiated as a cellular response to defend the invading pathogen. While on the one hand influenza viruses have evolved strategies to keep these responses in a tolerable limit, there is accumulating evidence that the virus has also acquired the capability to exploit the remaining activities to ensure efficient replication. Here we will summarize the current knowledge on influenza virus-induced signaling processes and how these pathogens take advantage of some of these activities within the infected cell to support its propagation.