Individual interferon (IFN)-producing cells were identified by hybridization in situ followed by autoradiography. cDNAs corresponding to murine IFN-alpha and murine IFN-beta labeled by nick-translation to high specific activity (2-4 X 10(8) dpm/micrograms) with alpha-35S-labeled dATP were used as probes for hybridization with IFN mRNA in mouse C-243 cells induced with Newcastle disease virus. C...

Abnormal production of interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) has been found in certain autoimmune diseases and can be also observed after prolonged therapy with IFN-alpha. IFN-alpha can contribute to the pathogenesis of allograft rejection in bone marrow transplants. Therefore, the development of IFN-alpha inhibitors as a soluble receptor protein may be valuable for the therapeutic control of these dise...

Recent studies demonstrated that viremia and extraintestinal rotavirus infection are common in acutely infected humans and animals, while systemic diseases appear to be rare. Intraperitoneal infection of newborn mice with rhesus rotavirus (RRV) results in biliary atresia (BA), and this condition is influenced by the host interferon response. We studied orally inoculated 5-day-old suckling mice ...

We report on two patients with Ph+ chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) in chronic phase who developed severe thrombocytopenia during treatment with interferon-alpha 2A (IFN-alpha 2A). In both cases, we detected the presence of platelet-associated antibodies (PAIg) by autoimmune flow cytometry. We postulated an immune mediated platelet destruction mechanism; corticosteroid therapy was employed and in...

Psoriasis is one of the most common T cell-mediated autoimmune diseases in humans. Although a role for the innate immune system in driving the autoimmune T cell cascade has been proposed, its nature remains elusive. We show that plasmacytoid predendritic cells (PDCs), the natural interferon (IFN)-alpha-producing cells, infiltrate the skin of psoriatic patients and become activated to produce IF...

Oncostatin M (OSM) is released together with type I interferon (IFN) by activated dendritic cells, suggesting a concerted action of these cytokines in the biological response against infection. We found that OSM increases the antiviral effect of IFN-alpha in Huh7 hepatoma cells infected with hepatitis A or hepatitis C virus and synergizes with IFN-alpha in the induction of antiviral genes. The ...

Interferon (IFN)-tau secreted only by ruminant endometrium, helps in maternal recognition of pregnancy and exhibit antiviral and antiproliferative activity. Among different types of IFN-tau, IFN-tau1c and IFN- tau3a are the most highly expressed isoforms. In the present study structure of INF-tau1c was predicted using homology modelling. The best model was selected based on overall stereo-chemi...

We report two recent, successful cases in treating active chronic hepatitis C patients (genotype 2a) with a lower-dose and long-term intermittent interferon therapy. Case 1: A 67-year-old female received IFN-alpha 3 MU twice a week. Biochemical and virological remissions were achieved after 4 weeks and 14 months, respectively. We changed the IFN to pegylated-interferon alpha-2a (P-IFN) 45 μg on...

Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) establishes a persistent infection in the human host and is associated with a variety of human cancers. Persistent infection results from a balance between the host immune response and viral immune evasion mechanisms. EBV infection is controlled initially by the innate immune response and later by T-cell-mediated adaptive immunity. EBV has evolved mechanisms to evade th...