Isolation and Characterization of a Functional Murine Interferon Alpha Gene which Is Not Expressed in Fibroblasts upon Virus Induction

Abstract

A mouse genomic segment containing three new members of the murine interferon alpha (MuIFN-.alpha.) gene family was isolated from a fibroblastic cosmid library. A 4 kb EcoRI fragment contained a new MuIFN-.alpha. gene named MuIFN-.alpha.8. The nucleotide sequence of the coding and flanking regions of this gene showed a high level of homology to those of known members of the MuIFN-.alpha. family. Transient expression of the MuIFN-.alpha.8 gene in COS cells and oocyte translation of in vitro transcripts both led to a biologically active protein. The antiviral activity was neutralized by monoclonal and polyclonal MuIFN-.alpha. antibodies. Although the 5'' flanking sequence shows features characteristic of an IFN regulatory region, the MuIFN-.alpha.8 gene is not expressed in murine fibroblasts treated with Newcastle disease virus or poly(I) .cntdot. poly(C).