Synthesis of human interferon beta 1 in Escherichia coli infected by a lambda phage recombinant containing a human genomic fragment.

DNA from a human adult was fragmented by partial digestion with restriction endonuclease EcoRI and cloned in lambda Charon 4A. Clone C15, with a human DNA insert of 17 X 10(3) bases, was identified as containing a gene for the fibroblast interferon, interferon beta 1. Restriction mapping shows that this gene, located on a 1840-base EcoRI fragment, is not interrupted by introns. Moreover, we show that this human genomic DNA fragment is able to direct the synthesis of active human interferon beta 1 in Escherichia coli. Interferon activity of up to 7 X 10(6) U/l was recovered from phage lysates by chromatography on Cibacron blue--Sepharose, and had the same immunological properties and species specificity as interferon produced by human fibroblasts.