Abstract
LIMITED preincubation (5 min to 2 h) at 37° C was found to increase the activity of several synthetic polynucleotides in producing cellular resistance to virus infection in vitro by several orders of magnitude, and to a lesser extent, induction of interferon in vitro and in vivo. The thermal activating effect was observed for both alternating copolymers and homopolymer pairs of either RNA or DNA types, but was most marked with the alternating polyribonucleotides such as poly A·poly U and poly I·poly C. Our findings might help to explain the variable biological activity of polynucleotides according to the way they are processed before testing.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution
Access options
Subscribe to this journal
Receive 51 print issues and online access
$199.00 per year
only $3.90 per issue
Buy this article
- Purchase on Springer Link
- Instant access to full article PDF
Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout
Similar content being viewed by others
References
De Clercq, E., and Merigan, T. C., Nature, 222, 1148 (1969).
De Clercq, E., Eckstein, F., and Merigan, T. C., Ann. N Y Acad. Sci. (in thepress).
Colby, C., and Chamberlin, M. J., Proc. US Nat. Acad. Sci., 63, 160 (1969).
Vilcek, J., Ng, M. H., Friedman-Kien, A. E., and Krawciw, T., J. Virol., 2, 648 (1968).
Lampson, G. P., Tytell, A. A., Field, A. K., Nemes, M. M., and Hilleman, M. R., Proc. US Nat. Acad. Sci., 58, 782 (1967).
Chamberlin, M., Baldwin, R. L., and Berg, P., J. Mol. Biol., 7, 334 (1963).
Scheffler, I. E., Elson, E. L., and Baldwin, R. L., J. Mol. Biol., 36, 291 (1968).
Inman, R. B., and Baldwin, R. L., J. Mol. Biol., 5, 172 (1962).
Spatz, H. Ch., and Baldwin, R. L., J. Mol. Biol., 11, 213 (1965).
De Clercq, E., Eckstein, F., and Merigan, T. C., Science, 165, 1137 (1969).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
DE CLERCQ, E., WELLS, R. & MERIGAN, T. Increase in Antiviral Activity of Polynucleotides by Thermal Activation. Nature 226, 364–366 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/226364a0
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/226364a0
This article is cited by
-
Modulation of the immune system by synthetic polynucleotides
Springer Seminars in Immunopathology (1979)
-
Interferon stimulated by Double Stranded RNA
Nature (1970)
-
Interferon Production by T4 Coliphage
Nature (1970)
Comments
By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.