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Alternative splicing leads to the expression of multiple isoforms of the subunits (IFNAR1 and IFNAR2) of the type I IFN receptor. Here we describe two transcripts representing extracellular forms of ovine IFNAR1 and show that soluble extracellular forms of both IFNAR2 and IFNAR1, prepared in recombinant form in Escherichia coli, have antiviral (AV) activity in the absence of IFN. Exposure of Madin-Darby bovine kidney cells to the extracellular domain (R2E) of IFNAR2 at concentrations as low as 10 nM afforded complete protection against vesicular stomatitis virus and led to the rapid activation of the transcription factors ISGF3 and GAF. Although R2E can bind IFN (K(d) approximately 70 nM), activity was observed irrespective of whether or not ligand was present. R2E was inactive on mouse L929 cells but active on L929 cells expressing a membraneanchored, ovine/human chimeric IFNAR2 with an ovine extracellular domain. The data suggest that AV activity is conferred by the ability of soluble R2E to associate with the transfected IFNAR2 subunit rather than resident murine IFNAR1. Soluble extracellular forms of IFNAR1 have lower AV activity than R2E on Madin-Darby bovine kidney cells but are less species-specific and protect wild-type L929 cells as efficiently as the transfected cell line, presumably by interacting with one of the murine receptor subunits.

A new means of direct visualization of the early events of viral infection by selective fluorescence labeling of viral proteins coupled with digital imaging microscopy is reported. The early phases of viral infection have great importance for understanding viral replication and pathogenesis. Vesicular stomatitis virus, the best-studied rhabdovirus, is composed of an RNA genome of negative sense, five viral proteins, and membrane lipids derived from the host cell. The glycoprotein of vesicular stomatitis virus was labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate, and the labeled virus was incubated with baby hamster kidney cells. After initiation of infection, the fluorescence of the labeled glycoprotein was first seen inside the cells in endocytic vesicles. The fluorescence progressively migrated to the nucleus of infected cells. After 1 h of infection, the virus glycoprotein was concentrated in the nucleus and could be recovered intact in a preparation of purified nuclei. These results suggest that uncoating of the viral RNA occurs close to the nuclear membrane, which would precede transcription of the leader RNA that enters the nucleus to shut off cellular RNA synthesis and DNA replication.

The great adaptability shown by RNA viruses is a consequence of their high mutation rates. Here we investigate the kinetics of virus fitness gains during repeated transfers of large virus populations in cell culture. Results always show that fitness increases exponentially. Low fitness clones exhibit regular increases observed as biphasic periods of exponential evolutionary improvement, while neutral clones show monophasic kinetics. These results are significant for RNA virus epidemiology, optimal handling of attenuated live virus vaccines, and routine laboratory procedures.

Phospholipid/Ca2(+)-dependent protein kinase (protein kinase C; PKC) appears to be involved in the signal-transduction pathway mediated by human leukocyte interferon (IFN) in HeLa cells. IFN treatment results in a rapid increase in [3H]phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate binding to intact cells, indicating an activation of PKC. In addition, inhibitors of PKC (H7 and staurosporine) block the induction of antiviral activity by IFN against vesicular stomatitis virus. PKC inhibitors also block the accumulation of IFN-stimulated mRNAs in the cytoplasm of HeLa cells and suppress the transcriptional induction of IFN-stimulated genes. Activation of IFN-stimulated genes is mediated through a DNA response element that is necessary and sufficient for the transcriptional response to IFN. IFN treatment induces the appearance of several DNA-binding factors that specifically recognize the response element, and the appearance of these factors is suppressed by PKC inhibitors. This observation provides evidence that PKC activity is involved during IFN-stimulated signal transduction. Although activation of PKC appears to be required for the response to IFN, agonists of PKC activity alone do not turn on expression of IFN-stimulated genes.

The early events that occur after interferon binds to discrete cell surface receptors remain largely unknown. Human leukocyte interferon (interferon-alpha) rapidly increases the binding of [3H]phorbol dibutyrate to intact HeLa cells (ED50 = 100 units/ml), a measure of protein kinase C activation, and induces the selective translocation of the beta isoform of protein kinase C from the cytosol to the particulate fraction of HeLa cells. The subcellular distribution of the alpha and epsilon isoforms is unaffected by interferon-alpha treatment. Activation of protein kinase C by phorbol esters mimics the inhibitory action of interferon-alpha on HeLa cell proliferation and down-regulation of protein kinase C blocks the induction of antiviral activity by interferon-alpha in HeLa cells. Increased phosphatidylcholine hydrolysis and phosphorylcholine production is accompanied by diacylglycerol production in response to interferon. However, inositol phospholipid turnover and free intracellular calcium concentration are unaffected. These results suggest that the transient increase in diacylglycerol, resulting from phosphatidylcholine hydrolysis, may selectively activate the beta isoform of protein kinase C. Moreover, the activation of protein kinase C is a necessary element in interferon action on cells.

Infectious B virions of vesicular stomatitis virus were 100% lethal to BHK(21) (baby hamster kidney) cells when infecting alone, and persistent noncytocidal infection could not be achieved with cloned B virions alone. However, a mixture of B virions and homologous, short, defective, interfering particles (T particles) of a temperature-sensitive mutant of the virus regularly established persistently infected, noncytocidal carrier cultures. A long T particle was generated during establishment of the carrier culture; we show that this long T particle can establish and maintain persistent noncytocidal infection even when it infects cells along with virulent wild-type B virions. This long T particle causes the production of wild-type B virions with greatly reduced virion transcriptase (EC 2.7.7.6; RNA nucleotidyltransferase) levels when coinfecting the same cells, so it appears to prevent cytopathology by regulating virus transcription. The implications of these findings for rabies and other slowly progressing noncytocidal infections are discussed.

Among the pleiotropic effects of human interferon are the inhibition of viral replication, the activation of natural killer cells, and the inhibition of cellular growth. Oxyphenbutazone, a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory agent, is a potent inhibitor of the antiviral activity of human alpha and beta interferons as determined by cytopathic effect and vesicular stomatitis virus synthesis and release in human foreskin fibroblasts. The inhibition of interferon activity is dose dependent with maximal inhibition at 25-50 microM and minimal inhibition at 1 microM. In contrast, oxyphenbutazone at concentrations as high as 100 microM has no effect on the activation of natural killer cells by human interferon. Similarly, oxyphenbutazone has no inhibitory effect on interferon-induced antigrowth activity in the human breast carcinoma cell line MDA-MB-231. This cell line is sensitive to oxyphenbutazone inhibition of interferon-induced antiviral activity in vitro. In another human cell line, the vulvar carcinoma A431, oxyphenbutazone apparently augments the antigrowth activity of interferon. Although oxyphenbutazone inhibits the fatty acid cyclooxygenase enzyme in these systems, other inhibitors of cyclooxygenase fail to inactivate the antiviral activity of human interferon. Thus, oxyphenbutazone appears to inhibit the interferon antiviral cascade at a site distinct from prostaglandin biosynthesis. Moreover, the failure to inhibit natural killer cell activation or cellular antigrowth effects of human interferon suggests a pathway different from that associated with the antiviral effect of human interferon.

Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) and encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) multiply in only a small percentage of peritoneal macrophages freshly explanted from 4- to 6-week-old male or female DBA/2, BALB/c, C3H, C57BL/6, or Swiss mice. However, when these mice were injected intraperitoneally with potent sheep (or goat) anti-mouse interferon alpha/beta globulin 4 days prior to harvesting peritoneal macrophages, the viruses multiplied to high titers and most of the cells were infected, as determined by total virus yield (VSV and EMCV), percentage of VSV antigen-positive cells (immunofluorescence), and determination of VSV infectious centers. This effect was not observed when mice were inoculated with other sheep hyperimmune or normal serum globulins. Anti-interferon globulin appeared to act in vivo because incubation of this globulin with peritoneal macrophages during the period of cell attachment or during the 18 hr after virus absorption did not render these cells permissive for VSV. Injection of mice with anti-interferon globulin did not affect the binding and uptake of labeled VSV by peritoneal macrophages. Although the underlying mechanism of this phenomenon is unknown, the results suggest that there may be low levels of endogenous interferon that contribute to host defense by maintaining some cells in an antiviral state.

Earlier we reported a reduction to 1/30th-1/100th of the original number of infectious particles in the infectious vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) released from L cells treated with 10 or 30 reference units of interferon per ml. However, in these cultures virus particle production, as measured by VSV particle-associated viral RNA, virus nucleocapsid protein, and viral transcriptase, was inhibited by less than 10%. Data reported in this paper show that there was a significant reduction in glycoprotein and membrane protein of VSV particles released from interferon-treated cells. Evidence supporting the deficiency of glycoprotein in VSV released from interferon-treated cells was derived from electron microscopic studies. Under conditions where glycoprotein spikes or projections were clearly detectable on the surface of VSV released from cells not treated with interferon, very few spikes were observed on VSV released from interferon-treated cells. These results suggested that interferon-treated cells produced VSV particles with low infectivity and that this low infectivity may be related to the reduced amount of glycoprotein and membrane protein incorporated into such particles.

We have investigated whether glycosylation of membrane glycoproteins is a determinant of the site of maturation of enveloped viruses in Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells. In MDCK cell monolayers, vesicular stomatitis virus buds exclusively from the basal or lateral plasma membranes and contains a sialylated glycoprotein, whereas influenza virus buds exclusively from the apical plasma membrane and lacks neuraminic acid. In order to study the possible relationship between glycosylation of viral glycoproteins and the budding site, infected MDCK cells were treated with tunicamycin at a concentration that completely inhibits glycosylation of viral glycoproteins and the site of virus maturation was examined by electron microscopy. When tunicamycin-treated monolayers were compared to controls, the polarity in the maturation sites of both viruses was maintained. These results indicate that glycosylation of viral glycoproteins is not required for the determination of the cellular maturation site of these enveloped viruses.

Superoxide dismutase (SOD; superoxide: superoxide oxidoreductase, EC 1.15.1.1) catalyzes the dismutation of O2- free radicals formed during various enzymatic reactions or by ionizing radiation. Genes coding for SOD and sensitivity to exogenous interferon (IF) are syntenic in both mouse and man. Diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC) has been shown to inhibit SOD activity by chelating Cu2+, the metal ion essential for the catalytic activity of the enzyme. Mouse cell lines L, L929, L1210 S6, and L1210 R3 and a human cell line (WISH) pretreated with homologous IF and different concentrations of DDC for various periods of time were tested for their ability to support virus multiplication. Treatment of cells with DDC resulted in dose- and time-dependent inhibition of SOD activity and, simultaneously, in the reduction of antiviral protection by exogenous IF. Cells pretreated for 4 hr with DDC and then washed thoroughly were also resistant to IF, but DDC was without effect if the IF effect was first "established" by a 4-hr exposure to IF before addition of DDC. Under the conditions employed, DDC treatment did not result in any detectable inhibition of DNA, RNA, or protein synthesis in these cells. The data suggest that SOD or a related Cu2+-requiring enzyme may be necessary for the establishment of the IF-induced antiviral state in both human and murine cells.

We report here that human leukocyte interferon preparations are capable of influencing the transition of human melanoma cells from the "A" state to the "B" phase. Human melanoma cells that enter a quiescent stage at high cell density are more sensitive to the cytostatic action of interferon than those that continue to proliferate under similar conditions. Cell cycle perturbations caused by interferon in these cells include a decreased transition rate out of G0-G1 ("A" state) into S ("B" phase) and a prolongation of S. These findings support the idea that some metabolic event is required for progress through the G0-G1 phase of the cell cycle and is susceptible to interferon action.

Treatment of human fibroblast cells with human fibroblast (beta)interferon for up to 8 hr resulted in the accumulation of at least four mRNAs. The mRNAs were isolated from cellular polysomes and characterized by stimulation of translation in a wheat germ cell-free protein synthesis system. The mRNAs appear as early as 2 hr after exposure to interferon and can be translated in vitro into proteins having molecular weights of 61,000, 62,000, 64,000, and 68,000. The response is not elicited by mouse interferon or insulin and does not occur in the presence of actinomycin D. Chase experiments indicated that the induced mRNAs remain ribosome-associated for at least 3 hr after their synthesis. The appearance of the induced mRNAs correlated directly with the onset of an antiviral state. Velocity sedimentation of the induced mRNAs on sucrose gradients demonstrated that each of the four induced proteins are encoded by different-sized mRNAs.

Lymphocytes activated by antigens or mitogens acquire the capacity to replicate viruses, and the number of activated lymphocytes can be estimated by the virus plaque assay. Concanavalin A and pokeweed mitogen produced 33-fold and 17-fold increases in virus plaqueforming cells (V-PFC), respectively, above background, while lipopolysaccharide produced only a 2- to 3-fold increase. T (thymus-derived lymphocyte)-depleted lymphocyte populations, derived from anti-theta-treated or nude (arthymic) mouse spleens, failed to produce V-PFC after culture with concanavalin A or pokeweed mitogen. The present studies thus demonstrate that the virus plaque assay measures activated T-lymphocytes.A dissociation between the V-PFC response and cell proliferation was previously observed in antigen-stimulated cells cultured in the presence of mitotic inhibitors. In the present studies, while stimulation of CBA (H2(k)) lymphocytes by DBA/2 (H2(d)) cells produced high levels of thymidine incorporation, lymphocyte target-cell cytotoxicity, and V-PFC, stimulation of BALB/c (H2(d)) lymphocytes against DBA/2 (H2(d)) cells resulted in even higher levels of thymidine incorporation with a virtual absence of cytotoxic lymphocytes or V-PFC. These results indicate that proliferation is not a sufficient condition for permitting lymphocytes either to exert cytotoxicity on target cells or to replicate viruses, and suggest that there may be a correlation between the development of V-PFC and cytotoxic lymphocytes. They are consistent with the view that there are at least two functional subpopulations of T-lymphocytes.

Dose-response curves of interferons in different sensitive cells are regularly sigmoidal. In somatic monkey-mouse hybrid cells, however, a significant decrease in the slope of the curve for primate interferon was observed, while the dose-response effect was unaltered for mouse interferon. High concentrations of primate interferon were 10- to 100-times less effective in hybrid clones than in parental monkey CV-1 cells; at low concentrations the antiviral effect was 10- to 20-times higher in hybrid clones than in the parental cells. The receptor(s) for primate interferon located on the cell membrane was destroyed by trypsin but not by EDTA. Similarly, acid pH inactivated these receptor sites. We, thus, postulate that the antiviral effect is, at least partially, related to the amount of interferon taken up by the cells. Uptake could be conditioned by active cooperation of two cell-specific factors: a receptor and an activator. The activator might be missing or inactivated for primate interferon in the hybrid cells. We suggest that the putative antiviral protein is not cell-species specific, and that information for its synthesis in the hybrid cells might be located on a mouse rather than a monkey chromosome.

In an attempt to understand the structure of rabbit interferon, the possibility of carbohydrate being part of the molecule was tested. Interferon incubated with neuraminidase from Vibrio cholera is homogeneous in charge as revealed by isoelectric focusing. Treatment of "asialointerferon" with galactose oxidase (EC 1.1.3.9) from Dactylium dendroides and subsequent reduction with tritiated sodium borohydride yields labeled material with unimpaired antiviral activity. Enzymic incorporation of N-[(14)C]acetylneuraminic acid into tritiated asialointerferon restores the original charge heterogeneity. The newly generated sialointerferon contains both (3)H and (14)C activity. Asialointerferon is retained by an affinity column containing phytohemagglutinin from Phaseolus vulgaris and can be displaced from the adsorbent by a glycoprotein of known structure. It is concluded that rabbit interferon is a glycoprotein containing the terminal oligosaccharide sequence sialic acid --> galactose.