title: The differential antiviral activities of chicken interferon α (ChIFN-α) and ChIFN-β are related to distinct interferon-stimulated gene expression.
abstract: Chicken interferon α (ChIFN-α) and ChIFN-β are type I IFNs that are important antiviral cytokines in the innate immune system. In the present study, we identified the virus-induced expression of ChIFN-α and ChIFN-β in chicken fibroblast DF-1 cells and systematically evaluated the antiviral activities of recombinant ChIFN-α and ChIFN-β by cytopathic-effect (CPE) inhibition assays. We found that ChIFN-α exhibited stronger antiviral activity than ChIFN-β in terms of inhibiting the replication of vesicular stomatitis virus, Newcastle disease virus and avian influenza virus, respectively. To elucidate the mechanism of differential antiviral activities between the two ChIFNs, we measured the relative mRNA levels of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) in IFN-treated DF-1 cells by real-time PCR. ChIFN-α displayed greater induction potency than ChIFN-β on several ISGs encoding antiviral proteins and MHC-I, whereas ChIFN-α was less potent than ChIFN-β for inducing ISGs involved in signaling pathways. In conclusion, ChIFN-α and ChIFN-β presented differential induction potency on various sets of ISGs, and the stronger antiviral activity of ChIFN-α is likely attributed to the greater expression levels of downstream antiviral ISGs.
authors.affiliation: Key Laboratory of Pathogenic Microbiology and Immunology, Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China.
authors.forename: Hongren
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Qu
authors.forename: Limin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: Shanshan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meng
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Yuhai
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bi
authors.forename: Xiaojuan
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: Jing
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Lei
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Wenjun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002417:Cattle; D002460:Cell Line; D002645:Chickens / Q000276:immunology*; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D004926:Escherichia coli; D005347:Fibroblasts; D005786:Gene Expression Regulation / Q000276:immunology*; D007113:Immunity, Innate / Q000276:immunology*; D053127:Influenza A Virus, H9N2 Subtype / Q000187:drug effects; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000494:pharmacology; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000494:pharmacology; D008958:Models, Molecular; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D016297:Mutagenesis, Site-Directed; D009522:Newcastle disease virus / Q000187:drug effects; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA; D018116:Vesiculovirus / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D016898:Interferon-alpha; D016899:Interferon-beta