INTERFERON-INDUCED PROTEINS: BIOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS AND CLINICAL APPLICATIONS11This work was supported in part by NCRD (Israel) and GSF (Germany), and in part by InterYeda (Israel)

The induction by Interferons of the synthesis of specific cellular proteins can be applied to investigate whether cells have been exposed to IFNs. For both the (2′-5′) oligo A synthetase and the HLA cell surface antigens, induction by IFNs was demonstrated at the level of mRNA, and the specificity for various IFNs was studied. Clinical applications of the synthetase assay in peripheral white blood cells are described.