Mechanisms of interferon induced transfer of viral resistance between animal cells.

The sequence of events initiated by interferon and leading to the antiviral state were studied as possible sites for the cell-to-cell transfer of interferon induced viral resistance. The possible role of interferon produced by recipient cells was negated by the demonstration of transfer of resistance in the presence of anti-human interferon antibody and under conditions of a single cycle of VSV growth. Transfer of sensitivity of WISH cells to mouse interferon, possibly through transfer of a membrane receptor, seems unlikely since resistance was transferred in the absence of mouse interferon. From kinetic data and the fact that actinomycin D blocked resistance in human cells for 3 h longer than in mouse cells, it seems unlikely that the mouse antiviral protein itself or its mRNA alone is a likely candidate for the transfer of resistance. Thus, by a process of elimination, we suggest that secondary messenger molecules which transmit the interferon signal from the membrane to the nucleus are the effector substance(s) for the transfer process.