Interferon binding: the first step in establishment of antiviral activity.

Chick cells incubated at 1 degrees C with interferon fail to develop antiviral activity, but this activity appears subsequent to a 7-hour incubation at 37 degrees C after removal of interferon by repeated washings. Treatment with actinomycin D blocks the development of the latter activity. Cells incubated with interferon at 1 degrees C for up to 1 hour and then washed and incubated for 2 hours at 37 degrees C develop a degree of antiviral activity proportional to the concentration of interferon at initial incubation; at any concentration, the antiviral activity increased with the duration of initial incubation at 1 degrees C, but a maximal response was reached at 10 or 20 minutes. Treatment with trypsin after incubation with interferon at 1 degrees C inhibited development of antiviral activity. Interferon is rapidly bound to a superficial cell site, and this binding is necessary for development of antiviral activity in chick cells.