Quantitative Aspects of Interferon-Induced Plaque Reduction: Effects of Cell Age and Dose of Challenge Virus

Abstract

Summary

Increasing the in vitro age of chick cell monolayers was found to alter the dose-response to interferon so that aged cells responded over a narrower concentration range than young cells. This effect was not observed on aged L-cells. No consistent effect on the PDD₅₀ of chick and mouse interferons was observed under the conditions of aging used in these experiments.

The percent of plaques appearing on interferon-treated chick cell monolayers was found to be independent of the amount of vesicular stomatitis virus used for challenge over an eightfold range. The percent of plaques appearing on interferon-treated L-cells, however, showed a progressive decrease with increasing amounts of challenge virus.

I am grateful to Dr. Walter D. Foster for helpful criticism of the manuscript and to Tony Verga for technical assistance.