IFIH1 and viral infectious disease: Generally, during a viral infection, cytoplasmic sensors of protein type, such as RIG-I (retinoic acid-inducible gene I) and MDA5 (melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5), bind to viral single-stranded RNA and/or, remarkably, double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and signal through a protein called MAVS (mitochondrial antiviral signaling protein) (42, 43).