INTERFERON-INDUCED ANTIVIRAL ACTIONS AND THEIR REGULATION

This chapter emphasizes additional aspects of the part played by the interferons (IFNs) in determining the outcome of encounters between viruses and host cells. Specifically, it reviews the biosynthesis of IFNs with particular stress on molecular mechanisms by which the IFN-α/β genes are activated transcriptionally by virus infection. The induction of IFN-γ by immune activation of lymphocytes is also discussed. Subsequently, the means by which IFN stimulates nuclear transcription of specific genes are examined. The chapter reviews the IFN-induced proteins that possess documented roles in antiviral mechanisms, primarily to highlight recent observations. It also describes the strategies employed by viruses to confound the IFN-induced antiviral activities. The major conclusion of this chapter is that there is a prominent and instructive overlap between mechanisms of regulation of the interferon-stimulated genes (ISG) and the IFN-α/β genes themselves. This network of interacting gene-regulator influences has become more salient as some pathways of gene induction by IFNs have been elucidated. © 1993, Academic Press Inc.