Figure 2 - Biochemical characterization of alb-IFN.

(a) Near- and far-ultraviolet circular dichroism (UV-CD) spectra of alb-IFN. This panel shows the spectra of alb-IFN compared with the spectral sums of human albumin and IFN-. The near- and far- UV-CD spectra indicate that the tertiary and secondary structures of IFN- are retained in the fusion protein⁵². (b) Signaling through IFN-specific response element (ISRE). Albinterferon -2b activates the ISRE pathway, demonstrating IFN-stimulated gene (ISG) induction characteristics similar to PEG-IFN--2a⁴. RLU, relative luminescence unit. (c) Induction of IFN-specific genes measured using cDNA microarray analysis. Albinterferon -2b induces a global transcription profile similar to that observed with native IFN-. The expression profiles of this set of genes are shown in pseudocolor (green indicates upregulation), ranked by the average treated/control sample ratios⁵⁴.