Comparative Study of Various Double-stranded RNAs as Inducers of Human Interferon

SUMMARY Various double-stranded RNAs of either synthetic or natural origin have been compared for their interferon-inducing potency in human skin fibroblasts ‘primed’ with interferon and ‘superinduced’ with cycloheximide and actinomycin D. While natural double-stranded RNAs (extracted from either Penicillium chrysogenum mycophage, f2 bacteriophage or reovirus) and alternating copolymers [(A-U)n.(A-U)n, (G-C)n.(G-C)n, (I-C)n.(I-C)n]* proved relatively less effective in inducing interferon than (I)n.(C)n, a variety of synthetic homopolymer pairs, including (I)n.(br5C)n, (I)n.(s2C)n, (A)n.(rT)n and (A)n.(U)n, showed an interferon-inducing activity comparable to that of (I)n.(C)n.