Merck, I4401-100KU, Interferon-αA/D human

Application
Interferon-αA/D human has been used:

• for identification of coronavirus replicase inhibitors
• in combination with ACH-806 [1-(4-pentyloxy-3-trifluoromethylphenyl)-3-(pyridine-3-carbonyl)thiourea] to study the effect on hepatitis C virus (HCV) replication
• in combination with vitamin D to check reduction in HCV protein production in cell culture

Biochem/physiol Actions
Interferon-αA/D (Bg/II), also known as Universal Type I Interferon, is an α interferon hybrid that crosses the species barrier. The Bg/II denotes the restriction enzyme site from which this hybrid is constructed from recombinant human interferons αA and αD. Interferon-αA/D has been proven to be active on many mammalian cells. It can substitute for human, monkey, mouse, bovine, rat, cat, dog, rabbit, sheep, goat, horse, pig or hamster type I interferon (α, β, ω and τ). Type I Interferons are a closely related family of 165-172 amino acid proteins that are produced by leukocytes (α subtypes), fibroblasts (β subtypes), lymphocytes (ω subtypes), and ruminant embryos (τ subtypes). This cytokine has anti-viral, anti-proliferative, immunoregulatory, and proinflammatory activities.
This cytokine has anti-viral, anti-proliferative, immunoregulatory, and proinflammatory activities.
Physical form
Solution in phosphate buffered saline containing 0.1% bovine serum albumin
Analysis Note
The biological activity is determined in the cytopathic effect inhibition assay using MDBK cells with vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). A cytopathic effect of 50% is produced with 1 unit/ml interferon. The units are determined with respect to NIH international standard reference for human interferonαA.