Greater sensitivity of caprine synovial membrane cells to human interferon-alpha than human or bovine cells.

The sensitivity of caprine synovial membrane cells to the antiviral effects of natural and recombinant DNA-derived human interferons (HuIFN) was compared with that of human foreskin fibroblast (FS7), ovine choroid plexus, and bovine turbinate cells. Caprine cells were found to be more sensitive (P less than 0.01) to natural HuIFN-alpha than human, ovine, and bovine cells. The sensitivity of caprine cells to recombinant DNA-derived HuIFN-alpha was equivalent to that of ovine cells, but greater than human or bovine cells. The sensitivity of caprine cells to natural and recombinant DNA-derived HuIFN-beta was equivalent to human cells, but less than that of ovine cells.