An effect of interferon on the uncoating of murine leukaemia virus not related to the antiviral state.

Adsorption of murine leukaemia virus (MLV) to NIH/3T3 cells, as determined by analysing its reverse transcriptase activity in the cell membrane, was found to be unaffected by interferon (IFN). Virus penetration and uncoating were followed by quantifying intracellular virions in terms of sedimentable reverse transcriptase activity in the cytoplasmic fraction. The penetrating virions were found to accumulate to a higher level in IFN-treated cells than in untreated controls. Intracellular virions were uncoated in untreated cells shortly after their penetration, whereas their uncoating was delayed in the IFN-treated cells for 2 to 3 h. Neither virus uncoating nor the effect of IFN on this process appeared to require new protein synthesis, since both were unaffected by cycloheximide (CH).