Difference in the Production of Human Interferon-{alpha} and -beta in Mouse Cells

Human interferon-α₁ and interferon- genes with their flanking regions were introduced into mouse LMTK^- cells. Although transfected cells contained the interferon genes with a similar copy number and produced a similar amount of interferon-specific mRNA, cells containing the human interferon- gene secreted about 10 times more human interferon than cells transfected with the human interferon-α₁ gene. When the coding region of the interferon- gene was replaced by that of the interferon-α₁ gene (hybrid interferon /α gene), the human interferon production of transfected cells fell by approx. one order of magnitude. These results show that in the case of exogenous interferon genes a translational or post-translational mechanism might significantly affect the final level of human interferons, resulting in higher titres of interferon- than of interferon-α.