INHIBITION OF PROTEIN SYNTHESIS IN NONINFECTED L CELLS BY PARTIALLY PURIFIED INTERFERON PREPARATIONS

Partially purified interferon preparations, obtained from L-cell monolayers infected with Newcastle disease virus (NDV), were shown to inhibit protein synthesis in noninfected L cells. The incorporation of several amino acids-¹⁴C was equally sensitive to the pretreatment of the cells with the interferon preparation. Treatment of L-cell monolayers for 24 hr with 800 units of interferon resulted in a 50% decrease in amino acid incorporation. The degree of inhibition was found to be a function of the interferon concentration and the time of exposure of the cells to the partially purified preparations. No inhibitory effect was detected in medium obtained from noninfected cells and purified in an identical manner. The inhibitory effect was shown to be cell specific in that the partially purified interferon from L cells did not reduce amino acid incorporation in heterospecific cell lines. Heating the interferon preparations at 60°C destroyed their antiviral activity and their ability to inhibit valine-¹⁴C incorporation in L cells.