Polybasic substances enhance the interferon-inducing capacity of single-stranded RNA, challenging the hypothesis that only double-stranded RNA can induce the interferon mechanism.
May enhance ssRNA interferon induction in animal models; hypothesis-generating and leaves open human translation.
A study was undertaken to determine whether the interferon-stimulating capacity of single-stranded RNA could be enhanced by substances which are known to combine with RNA, to enhance uptake of RNA into cells and to inhibit degradation of RNA by ribonuclease. The results demonstrated that the polybasic substances diethylaminoethyl-dextran (DEAE-dextran), methylated albumin, neomycin, streptomycin, and protamine sulfate markedly enhanced the induction of the interferon mechanism by single-stranded and by double-stranded synthetic RNAs. The demonstration that all the synthetic single-stranded preparations of polyinosinic acid and polycytidylic acid induced the interferon mechanism in the presence of the polybasic substances is strong evidence against the hypothesis that only double-stranded RNA is capable of inducing the interferon mechanism. In addition to the theoretical implications the present findings point to the possibility that the polybasic substances may be useful to enhance the antiviral action of RNAs for the control of viral infections.
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Billiau et al. (1969) studied this question.
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