Biological activities of synthetic peptides of the sequence of human interferon-alpha.

Theoretical and experimental data were obtained indicating a possible role of the amino acid sequence 69-80 of HuIFN-alpha for antiviral activity of interferon. In this paper, synthetic peptides (penta-, octa- and dodecapeptides), representing the sequence region of positions 69-80 of the primary structure of HuIFN-alpha-2 were investigated with regard to their ability to inhibit the cytopathic effect of VSV on MDBK cells and on embryonic human fibroblasts. The peptides themselves exhibit only a very weak antiviral activity; however, it was found that these peptides even increase the antiviral activity of HuIFN-alpha-2.