Interferon Enhances the Expression of Epstein--Barr Virus Early Antigen in Daudi Cells

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Abstract
Treatment of the Burkitt lymphoma-derived cell line Daudi with highly purified human interferon-.alpha. (IFN-.alpha.) increased up to 100-fold the number of cells expressing Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-determined early antigen (EA) without inducing the synthesis of virus capsid antigen (VCA), a late virus function. The increase in the number of EA-positive cells was proportional to inferferon concentration up to 104 IU/ml. Treatment of Daudi cells with the same number of units of either partially purified (106 IU/mg protein) or electrophoretically pure (2 .times. 108 IU/mg protein) IFN-.alpha. both gave a similar increase in EA expression, strongly suggesting that the effects observed were indeed due to interferon. Treatment of relatively interferon-insensitive Raji cells with IFN-.alpha. (1 to 104 IU/ml) had no significant effect on either spontaneous or 5-iodo-2''-deoxyuridine (IdUrd)-induced expression of EA or VCA. Human IFN-.beta. also enhanced the expression of EBV EA in Daudi cells. When the latent EBV present in Daudi cells was activated to enter into a replicative cycle, either by induction with IdUrd or by superinfection with the non-transforming P3HR1 strain of EBV, then treatment with human IFN-.alpha. caused a marked inhibition of EA expression. Interferon apparently can exert a differential action on virus replication depending upon the state of the virus genome within the cell.

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