We have previously described ECIF-1, a DNA-binding factor present in nuclear extracts of murine embryonal carcinoma cells which specifically recognizes a region within the human beta-interferon promoter. We show that the promoter region located between -112 and -93 is sufficient for this binding activity, which is not due to binding of interferon-regulatory factor 1 or 2. By mutational analysis...

Myxoma virus (MV) encodes a cell surface protein (M135R) that is predicted to mimic the host alpha/beta interferon receptor (IFN-alpha/beta-R) and thus prevent IFN-alpha/beta from triggering a host antiviral response. This prediction is based on sequence similarity to B18R, the viral IFN-alpha/beta-R from vaccinia virus (VV), which has been demonstrated to bind and inhibit type I interferons. H...

Viruses utilize numerous mechanisms to counteract the host's immune response. Interferon production is a major component of the host antiviral response. Many viruses, therefore, produce proteins or RNA molecules that inhibit interferon-induced signal transduction pathways and their associated antiviral effects. Surprisingly, some viruses directly induce expression of interferon-induced genes. S...