Interferon induces pulmonary cysts in A2G mice.

Suckling A2G mice were treated for the first week of life with either partially purified or electrophoretically pure mouse alpha/beta interferon. All mice subsequently developed multiple large pulmonary cysts. The lesions were never found in interferon-treated Swiss mice and only very infrequently in interferon-treated BALB/c or F1 Swiss/A2G mice. These observations show that a brief exposure of suckling A2G mice to alpha/beta interferon can result in a severe disease that is determined by the mouse genotype.