Transcriptional and posttranscriptional regulation of exogenous human beta interferon gene in simian cells defective in interferon synthesis.

We determined that the defect in beta interferon induction in Vero cells is due to the absence of the simian beta interferon (IFN-beta) gene. Nevertheless, the human IFN-beta gene or a hybrid gene, in which the human IFN-beta promoter-regulatory region directs expression of the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene (pIFN-CAT), could be induced in transfected Vero cells, and these cells also regulated IFN-beta mRNA (but not pIFN-CAT mRNA) posttranscriptionally. These results indicate that the instability in the human IFN-beta gene is coded for by the coding or 3'-end region of IFN-beta mRNA and that the human IFN-beta gene is regulated in Vero and human cells in an identical manner.