Skip to main content
Nucleic Acids Research logoLink to Nucleic Acids Research
. 1983 Feb 11;11(3):555–573. doi: 10.1093/nar/11.3.555

Structure and expression of cloned murine IFN-alpha genes.

G D Shaw, W Boll, H Taira, N Mantei, P Lengyel, C Weissmann
PMCID: PMC325737  PMID: 6188104

Abstract

The mouse has an interferon-alpha (MuIFN-alpha) gene family containing at least four, and likely more than ten members. A segment of mouse chromosomal DNA and cDNAs encoding murine alpha IFNs have been cloned, and the sequence of two MuIFN-alpha DNAs determined. No intron was found in the chromosomal gene. The two coding sequences produced biologically active IFN when expressed in monkey cells under the control of an SV40 promoter, and in E.coli under the control of the ampicillinase promoter. MuIFN-alpha 1 had no detectable activity on human cells, while MuIFN-alpha 2 was 20% as active on human as on mouse cells.

Full text

PDF
555

Images in this article

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Allen G., Fantes K. H. A family of structural genes for human lymphoblastoid (leukocyte-type) interferon. Nature. 1980 Oct 2;287(5781):408–411. doi: 10.1038/287408a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Baltimore D. Gene conversion: some implications for immunoglobulin genes. Cell. 1981 Jun;24(3):592–594. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90082-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Benton W. D., Davis R. W. Screening lambdagt recombinant clones by hybridization to single plaques in situ. Science. 1977 Apr 8;196(4286):180–182. doi: 10.1126/science.322279. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Berk A. J., Sharp P. A. Sizing and mapping of early adenovirus mRNAs by gel electrophoresis of S1 endonuclease-digested hybrids. Cell. 1977 Nov;12(3):721–732. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(77)90272-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Brack C., Nagata S., Mantei N., Weissmann C. Molecular analysis of the human interferon-alpha gene family. Gene. 1981 Dec;15(4):379–394. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(81)90181-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Colman A., Morser J. Export of proteins from oocytes of Xenopus laevis. Cell. 1979 Jul;17(3):517–526. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(79)90260-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Derynck R., Leung D. W., Gray P. W., Goeddel D. V. Human interferon gamma is encoded by a single class of mRNA. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 Jun 25;10(12):3605–3615. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.12.3605. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Egel R. Intergenic conversion and reiterated genes. Nature. 1981 Mar 19;290(5803):191–192. doi: 10.1038/290191a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Frost E., Williams J. Mapping temperature-sensitive and host-range mutations of adenovirus type 5 by marker rescue. Virology. 1978 Nov;91(1):39–50. doi: 10.1016/0042-6822(78)90353-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Fujisawa J., Iwakura Y., Kawade Y. Nonglycosylated mouse L cell interferon produced by the action of tunicamycin. J Biol Chem. 1978 Dec 25;253(24):8677–8679. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Gluzman Y. SV40-transformed simian cells support the replication of early SV40 mutants. Cell. 1981 Jan;23(1):175–182. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(81)90282-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Goeddel D. V., Leung D. W., Dull T. J., Gross M., Lawn R. M., McCandliss R., Seeburg P. H., Ullrich A., Yelverton E., Gray P. W. The structure of eight distinct cloned human leukocyte interferon cDNAs. Nature. 1981 Mar 5;290(5801):20–26. doi: 10.1038/290020a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Gray P. W., Goeddel D. V. Structure of the human immune interferon gene. Nature. 1982 Aug 26;298(5877):859–863. doi: 10.1038/298859a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Gray P. W., Leung D. W., Pennica D., Yelverton E., Najarian R., Simonsen C. C., Derynck R., Sherwood P. J., Wallace D. M., Berger S. L. Expression of human immune interferon cDNA in E. coli and monkey cells. Nature. 1982 Feb 11;295(5849):503–508. doi: 10.1038/295503a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Gresser I., Tovey M. G., Bandu M. E., Maury C., Brouty-Boyé D. Role of interferon in the pathogenesis of virus diseases in mice as demonstrated by the use of anti-interferon serum. I. Rapid evolution of encephalomyocarditis virus infection. J Exp Med. 1976 Nov 2;144(5):1305–1315. doi: 10.1084/jem.144.5.1305. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Hagenbüchle O., Bovey R., Young R. A. Tissue-specific expression of mouse-alpha-amylase genes: nucleotide sequence of isoenzyme mRNAs from pancreas and salivary gland. Cell. 1980 Aug;21(1):179–187. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(80)90125-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Hanahan D., Meselson M. Plasmid screening at high colony density. Gene. 1980 Jun;10(1):63–67. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(80)90144-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Havell E. A., Yamazaki S., Vilcek J. Altered molecular species of human interferon produced in the presence of inhibitors of glycosylation. J Biol Chem. 1977 Jun 25;252(12):4425–4427. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Houghton M., Jackson I. J., Porter A. G., Doel S. M., Catlin G. H., Barber C., Carey N. H. The absence of introns within a human fibroblast interferon gene. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Jan 24;9(2):247–266. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.2.247. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Kawade Y., Watanabe Y., Yamamoto Y., Fujisawa J., Dalton B. J., Paucker K. Antigenic cross-reaction between the alpha types of human and mouse interferon. Antiviral Res. 1981 Sep;1(3):167–178. doi: 10.1016/0166-3542(81)90005-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Knight E., Jr Interferon: purification and initial characterization from human diploid cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1976 Feb;73(2):520–523. doi: 10.1073/pnas.73.2.520. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Land H., Grez M., Hauser H., Lindenmaier W., Schütz G. 5'-Terminal sequences of eucaryotic mRNA can be cloned with high efficiency. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 May 25;9(10):2251–2266. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.10.2251. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Lawn R. M., Adelman J., Dull T. J., Gross M., Goeddel D., Ullrich A. DNA sequence of two closely linked human leukocyte interferon genes. Science. 1981 Jun 5;212(4499):1159–1162. doi: 10.1126/science.6165082. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Lawn R. M., Adelman J., Franke A. E., Houck C. M., Gross M., Najarian R., Goeddel D. V. Human fibroblast interferon gene lacks introns. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Mar 11;9(5):1045–1052. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.5.1045. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Lawn R. M., Gross M., Houck C. M., Franke A. E., Gray P. V., Goeddel D. V. DNA sequence of a major human leukocyte interferon gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Sep;78(9):5435–5439. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.9.5435. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Levy W. P., Rubinstein M., Shively J., Del Valle U., Lai C. Y., Moschera J., Brink L., Gerber L., Stein S., Pestka S. Amino acid sequence of a human leukocyte interferon. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Oct;78(10):6186–6190. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.10.6186. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  27. Mantei N., Schwarzstein M., Streuli M., Panem S., Nagata S., Weissmann C. The nucleotide sequence of a cloned human leukocyte interferon cDNA. Gene. 1980 Jun;10(1):1–10. doi: 10.1016/0378-1119(80)90137-7. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  28. Mogensen K. E., Pyhälä L., Cantell K. Raising antibodies to human leukocyte interferon. Acta Pathol Microbiol Scand B. 1975 Oct;83(5):443–450. doi: 10.1111/j.1699-0463.1975.tb00123.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  29. Nagata S., Mantei N., Weissmann C. The structure of one of the eight or more distinct chromosomal genes for human interferon-alpha. Nature. 1980 Oct 2;287(5781):401–408. doi: 10.1038/287401a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  30. Nagata S., Taira H., Hall A., Johnsrud L., Streuli M., Ecsödi J., Boll W., Cantell K., Weissmann C. Synthesis in E. coli of a polypeptide with human leukocyte interferon activity. Nature. 1980 Mar 27;284(5754):316–320. doi: 10.1038/284316a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  31. Nunberg J. H., Kaufman R. J., Chang A. C., Cohen S. N., Schimke R. T. Structure and genomic organization of the mouse dihydrofolate reductase gene. Cell. 1980 Feb;19(2):355–364. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(80)90510-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  32. O'Hare K., Benoist C., Breathnach R. Transformation of mouse fibroblasts to methotrexate resistance by a recombinant plasmid expressing a prokaryotic dihydrofolate reductase. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Mar;78(3):1527–1531. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.3.1527. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  33. Ohno S., Taniguchi T. Structure of a chromosomal gene for human interferon beta. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Sep;78(9):5305–5309. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.9.5305. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  34. Parker R. C., Watson R. M., Vinograd J. Mapping of closed circular DNAs by cleavage with restriction endonucleases and calibration by agarose gel electrophoresis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1977 Mar;74(3):851–855. doi: 10.1073/pnas.74.3.851. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  35. Perler F., Efstratiadis A., Lomedico P., Gilbert W., Kolodner R., Dodgson J. The evolution of genes: the chicken preproinsulin gene. Cell. 1980 Jun;20(2):555–566. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(80)90641-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  36. Proudfoot N. J., Brownlee G. G. 3' non-coding region sequences in eukaryotic messenger RNA. Nature. 1976 Sep 16;263(5574):211–214. doi: 10.1038/263211a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  37. Reynolds F. H., Jr, Premkumar E., Pitha P. M. Interferon activity produced by translation of human interferon messenger RNA in cell-free ribosomal systems and in Xenopus oöcytes. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1975 Dec;72(12):4881–4885. doi: 10.1073/pnas.72.12.4881. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  38. Rubinstein M., Rubinstein S., Familletti P. C., Miller R. S., Waldman A. A., Pestka S. Human leukocyte interferon: production, purification to homogeneity, and initial characterization. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Feb;76(2):640–644. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.2.640. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  39. Sagar A. D., Sehgal P. B., Slate D. L., Ruddle F. H. Multiple human beta interferon genes. J Exp Med. 1982 Sep 1;156(3):744–755. doi: 10.1084/jem.156.3.744. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  40. Skup D., Windass J. D., Sor F., George H., Williams B. R., Fukuhara H., De Maeyer-Guignard J., De Maeyer E. Molecular cloning of partial cDNA copies of two distinct mouse IFN-beta mRNAs. Nucleic Acids Res. 1982 May 25;10(10):3069–3084. doi: 10.1093/nar/10.10.3069. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  41. Slightom J. L., Blechl A. E., Smithies O. Human fetal G gamma- and A gamma-globin genes: complete nucleotide sequences suggest that DNA can be exchanged between these duplicated genes. Cell. 1980 Oct;21(3):627–638. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(80)90426-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  42. Southern E. M. Detection of specific sequences among DNA fragments separated by gel electrophoresis. J Mol Biol. 1975 Nov 5;98(3):503–517. doi: 10.1016/s0022-2836(75)80083-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  43. Streuli M., Hall A., Boll W., Stewart W. E., 2nd, Nagata S., Weissmann C. Target cell specificity of two species of human interferon-alpha produced in Escherichia coli and of hybrid molecules derived from them. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 May;78(5):2848–2852. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.5.2848. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  44. Streuli M., Nagata S., Weissmann C. At least three human type alpha interferons: structure of alpha 2. Science. 1980 Sep 19;209(4463):1343–1347. doi: 10.1126/science.6158094. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  45. Taira H., Broeze R. J., Jayaram B. M., Lengyel P., Hunkapiller M. W., Hood L. E. Mouse interferons: amino terminal amino acid sequences of various species. Science. 1980 Feb 1;207(4430):528–530. doi: 10.1126/science.7352261. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  46. Tan Y. H., Barakat F., Berthold W., Smith-Johannsen H., Tan C. The isolation and amino acid/sugar composition of human fibroblastoid interferon. J Biol Chem. 1979 Aug 25;254(16):8067–8073. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  47. Tavernier J., Derynck R., Fiers W. Evidence for a unique human fibroblast interferon (IFN-beta 1) chromosomal gene, devoid of intervening sequences. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Feb 11;9(3):461–471. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.3.461. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  48. Taya Y., Devos R., Tavernier J., Cheroutre H., Engler G., Fiers W. Cloning and structure of the human immune interferon-gamma chromosomal gene. EMBO J. 1982;1(8):953–958. doi: 10.1002/j.1460-2075.1982.tb01277.x. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  49. Tovey M. G., Begon-Lours J., Gresser I. A method for the large scale production of potent interferon preparations. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1974 Jul;146(3):809–815. doi: 10.3181/00379727-146-38196. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  50. Wahl G. M., Stern M., Stark G. R. Efficient transfer of large DNA fragments from agarose gels to diazobenzyloxymethyl-paper and rapid hybridization by using dextran sulfate. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1979 Aug;76(8):3683–3687. doi: 10.1073/pnas.76.8.3683. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  51. Weaver R. F., Weissmann C. Mapping of RNA by a modification of the Berk-Sharp procedure: the 5' termini of 15 S beta-globin mRNA precursor and mature 10 s beta-globin mRNA have identical map coordinates. Nucleic Acids Res. 1979 Nov 10;7(5):1175–1193. doi: 10.1093/nar/7.5.1175. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  52. Weck P. K., Apperson S., Stebbing N., Gray P. W., Leung D., Shepard H. M., Goeddel D. V. Antiviral activities of hybrids of two major human leukocyte interferons. Nucleic Acids Res. 1981 Nov 25;9(22):6153–6166. doi: 10.1093/nar/9.22.6153. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  53. Weissenbach J., Chernajovsky Y., Zeevi M., Shulman L., Soreq H., Nir U., Wallach D., Perricaudet M., Tiollais P., Revel M. Two interferon mRNAs in human fibroblasts: in vitro translation and Escherichia coli cloning studies. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1980 Dec;77(12):7152–7156. doi: 10.1073/pnas.77.12.7152. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  54. Weissmann C., Nagata S., Boll W., Fountoulakis M., Fujisawa A., Fujisawa J. I., Haynes J., Henco K., Mantei N., Ragg H. Structure and expression of human IFN-alpha genes. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 1982 Sep 24;299(1094):7–28. doi: 10.1098/rstb.1982.0102. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  55. Wilson A. C., Carlson S. S., White T. J. Biochemical evolution. Annu Rev Biochem. 1977;46:573–639. doi: 10.1146/annurev.bi.46.070177.003041. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  56. Yip Y. K., Pang R. H., Urban C., Vilcek J. Partial purification and characterization of human gamma (immune) interferon. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1981 Mar;78(3):1601–1605. doi: 10.1073/pnas.78.3.1601. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Nucleic Acids Research are provided here courtesy of Oxford University Press

RESOURCES