Abstract
Potentiation was originally demonstrated as a nonadditive, synergistic enhancement of interferon (IFN) activity in the mouse system for mixed preparations containing MuIFNα/β and MuIFN-γ. Potentiation of the antiviral and anticellular activities has now been studied for mouse and human systems, and in both systems IFN-α and IFN-β interacted synergistically with IFN-γ, but not with each other. Further, the antiviral and anticellular activities of IFN-α and IFN-β were potentiated equally by IFN-γ. Potentiation was demonstrated for HuIFNs with specific activities of 107 U/mg of protein and higher. Naturally produced and recombinant HuIFN-αs had the same relative abilities to be potentiated by HuIFN-γ. It was concluded that IFN-γ with either IFN-α or IFN-β was essential for potentiation, that potentiation of anticellular and antiviral actions occurred in similar manners, and that a close correlation existed between potentiation in mouse and human systems. These results suggest that potentiation was caused by the interaction of two dissimilar IFN types (immune versus virus-type) and that potentiation studies in the mouse may be directly relevant for humans.
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