Transfection of Mller Cells With Type I Interferon Transgenes: Resistance to HSV-1 Infection

Gene transfer is a widely used experimental approach to determine the value of specific genes under a variety of conditions. This chapter focuses on the expression of two human antiviral genes, interferon (IFN)-α2 and IFN-β, driven by a cytomegalovirus immediate-early promoter in a human M�ller cell line. The anti-viral efficacy of these two transgenes is determined by measuring resistant to herpes simplex virus type 1 infection assessing viral antigen expression and viral titers recovered from control and IFN transgene-transfected cells. Furthermore, comparing the antiviral efficacy of these two transgenes suggest the anti-viral environment elicited by the human IFN-α2 transgene is superior to that of the human IFN-β, which may be related to the amount of biologically active IFN secreted by these cells.