Immunological Activities of Recombinant Interferon-α 2 and Its A Fragment

Abstract

The immunomodulating effects of the A fragment of recombinant human interferon-α₂ (rIFN-α₂) generated by thermolysin treatment was compared to that of the intact rIFN-α₂ and lymphoblastoid IFN. The A fragment was similar to intact IFN in augmenting natural killer (NK) activity and suppressing the proliferation of certain cell lines, but it failed to inhibit human polyclonal immunoglobulin production; rIFN-α₂ and lymphoblastoid IFN were equally effective in suppressing this in vitro system. These data suggest that the A fragment mediates certain, but not all, of the immunomodulating properties of IFN-α₂.