Nuclear accumulation of interferon gamma.

Examination of the interferon gamma (IFN-gamma) amino acid sequence revealed two conserved basic amino acid clusters similar to the prototype nuclear localization signal. We followed the fate of cell surface receptor-bound IFN-gamma in murine leukemia L1210 cells. A time- and temperature-dependent accumulation of murine IFN-gamma in the cell nucleus could be demonstrated by autoradiography and indirect immunofluorescence after the rapid isolation of nuclei. Human IFN-gamma was also internalized and translocated to the nucleus of murine L1210 cells transfected with and expressing the human IFN-gamma receptor, but it appeared to be retained by the nucleus only transiently. IFN-gamma molecules chemically crosslinked to their cell surface receptor remain capable of being translocated to the nucleus even as part of a receptor-ligand complex. Thus, the bipartite nuclear localization signal sequence appears to be functional and suggests that nuclear targeting could participate in IFN-gamma signal transduction.