Interferon-gamma severely inhibits DNA synthesis of vaccinia virus in a macrophage cell line.

Interferon-gamma inhibits the growth of several viruses; however, the exact mechanism of this inhibition has not been clearly defined. In this report, we show that in a monocyte/macrophage cell line J774.G8 IFN-gamma inhibits the growth of vaccinia virus (VV) in a dose-dependent manner. This inhibition is due to a block in VV DNA synthesis and correlates with an increased generation of reactive nitrogen intermediates.