Enucleation and reconstruction of interferon-producing cells

Authors

D. C. Burke, University of Colorado at Boulder
G. Veomett, University of Nebraska at Lincoln

Date of this Version

1977

Comments

Published in Proc. Nati. Acad. Sci. USA Vol. 74, No. 8, pp. 3391-395, August 1977. Used by Permission

Abstract

Enucleation of L cells leads to loss of the capacity to produce interferon, showing that the cell nucleus is essential for interferon formation. However, when the cells were enucleated while interferon formation was proceeding, the cytoplasts were capable of continuing to synthesize interferon by a process shown to be protein synthesis, showing that the interferon messenger RNA leaves the nucleus after synthesis. Reconstructed cells were obtained by Sendai virus fusion of karyoplasts and cytoplasts. Such reconstructed cells were capable of producing at least as much interferon (43 interferon units/10⁴ nucleated cells) as control cells (31 interferon units/10⁴ nucleated cells).