Human interferon-alpha-and-gamma-mediated inhibition of retrovirus production in the absence of an inhibitory effect on vesicular stomatitis virus and encephalomyocarditis virus replication in RD-114 cells.

RD-114 line is a human sarcoma cell line chronically infected with RD-114 retrovirus. Treatment of these cells with increasing doses of human interferon-alpha or -gamma resulted in increasing inhibition of RD-114 virus production. Surprisingly, the replication of vesicular stomatitis virus and encephalomyocarditis virus, in these cells and in the parental RD cells which are not infected with the retrovirus, was insensitive to interferon treatment. Unlike reported differences in other properties of interferon-alpha and interferon-gamma, there were no differences in their antiretroviral properties such as dose response, kinetics of establishment of the antiretroviral state, and kinetics of its dissipation upon removal of interferon.