Interferon Production in vitro by Cells Infected with the Murine Salivary Gland Virus. ∗

Abstract

Summary

Using a heterologous virus-cell system, an EMC virus interfering substance having many properties similar to those of interferon(3,4) was detected in the growth medium from mouse embryo cell cultures infected with the murine salivary gland virus. The interfering material was non-dialyzable, heat labile at 60°C for one hour, stable at pH 2, not affected by MSGV antiserum, not sedimented at 90,000 X g, and was active in a cell system unable to support MSGV replication. In infected cultures, the rise in MSGV titer was associated with a corresponding rise in the interferon activity. Efforts to relate interferon production to latency in vivo are in progress.

The authors would like to thank Mr. John Gehrke for his excellent technical assistance.