Modulation of the Interferon- Signal by Transfection of Cells with an Antisense-RNA Expressing Vector

Apart from cell-cell contacts, signal transduction mechanisms active during immune defense are mainly regulated by cytokines. They accomplish their pleiotropic, paracrine, and/or autocrine biological activities as a result of the contact with a membrane receptor followed by signal propagation through a series of signal transduction partners and eventually reaching the nucleus where activation of gene transcription leads to the expression of specific proteins. Application of highly specific inhibitors of these paths is the basis for their unraveling, including the identification of parallel paths and the occurrence of “crosstalk.” The elucidation of specific inhibitors also has possible medical applications.