The Mechanism of Poly I:C-Induced Antiviral Activity in Peritoneal Macrophage

Macrtophages play an important role in defense against virus infection by intrinsic resistance and by extrinsic resistance. Since interferon-induced enzymes which are 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetase and p1/eIF-2 protein kinase have been shown to be involved in the inhibition of viral replication, I examined the mechanism by which poly I:C, an interferon inducer, exerts its antiviral effects in inflammatory macrophages infected with herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). The data presented here demonstrate that poly I:C-induced antiviral activity is partially due to the activation of 2'-5' pligoadenylate synthetase. The activation of 2'-5' oligoadenlate A synthetase by poly I:C is also at least mediated via the production of interferon-.betha.. Taken together, these data indicate that interferon-.betha. produced in response to poly I:C acts in an autocrine manner to activate the 2'-5' oligoadenylate synthetase and to induce resistance to HSV-1.