Assay of bovine interferons in cultures of the porcine cell line IB-RS-2

Abstract

An assay for bovine interferons has been developed using the porcine cell line IB RS 2 and a bovine enterovirus, CBV D, as challenge virus. The method is based on estimation of cytopathic effect measured by uptake of neutral red. The assay is simple, sensitive, and reproducible. A comparative test of different viruses in IB RS 2 cells and secondary calf kidney cells revealed that the sensitivity of a virus to interferon can vary up to 1,000 fold in the two cell systems. Vesicular stomatitis virus was found to be rather insensitive to interferon in IB RS 2 cells.