Abstract
Interferons are being tested as antiviral and antitumour agents in man1–5, but because of their limited availability, clinical trials have remained inconclusive. Most of the interferon (IFN) preparations tested in man have been derived from human peripheral blood, buffy-coat leukocytes (HuIFN-α)6 induced by Sendai virus or from human diploid fibroblastoid cells (HuIFN-β) superinduced with poly(rI)-poly(rC)7. As production of interferon from leukocytes is restricted by the availability of blood donors, and production from cultured cells is a laborious and relatively costly process, the use of recombinant DNA technology may provide the most economical approach to the large-scale production of pure species of human interferon. The testing of such interferons is in its infancy. With the availability of bacterially produced HuIFN-α2 we have been able to compare its activity against vaccinia virus infection of the rhesus monkey with that of HuIFN-α from leukocyte buffy coats. Here we provide evidence that the two human α-interferons have comparable antiviral activity but that the bacterially produced form has fewer side effects, at least in the rhesus monkey.
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Schellekens, H., de Reus, A., Bolhuis, R. et al. Comparative antiviral efficiency of leukocyte and bacterially produced human α-interferon in rhesus monkeys. Nature 292, 775–776 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1038/292775a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/292775a0
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