Abstract
A cluster of four MuIFN-α genes was recently isolated and characterized (1); one of the genes in this cluster had, in the coding region, an internal deletion of 5 amino acids. Bacterial expression plasmids were constructed to examine the effect of this deletion on the antiviral activity of the MuIFN-α4 peptide and it was found that α4 interferon peptide had a 100-fold lower antiviral activity than full length α-interferon proteins when expressed in E.coli.