Development of the interferon system. I. In chicken cells development in ovo continues on time in vitro.

When confluent monolayers of cells derived from chicken embryos of different gestational age were cultured for several days without a medium change, a condition termed in vitro aging, the cells' developed an increased capacity to express the interferon (IFN) system. The capacity to both produce IFN and to respond to its antiviral action were enhanced up to 1000- and 100-fold, respectively. Remarkably, the programmed development of the IFN system in these cells seemed to continue virtually uninterrupted after monodispersion of the cells and seeding at high cell density. Cells prepared from young embryos required more time to develop the IFN system than cells from older embryos with the yield of IFN, and sensitivity to its action, related directly to the total in ovo and in vitro age of the cells in culture. For example, essentially the same yields of IFN were obtained from cell cultures made from 5-d-old embryos "aged" for 10 d in vitro, as were obtained from 10-d-old embryos whose cells were aged in vitro for 5 d. In contrast, inducibility of 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetase by IFN and the induction of heat shock genes by elevated temperature are not enhanced with in vitro aging. The programmed development of the IFN system that starts in ovo seems to continue on schedule in vitro, making the development of the IFN system in chick embryo cells appear as a time-dependent process.