Genes modulated by interferons and double-stranded RNA

Abstract

Specific host responses to virus infection play major roles in determining not only the fate of the infected cells but also the efficacy of virus replication. Many of these responses are mediated by the products of cellular genes that are transcriptionally induced upon virus infection. In this induction process, interferons (IFN) and double-stranded (ds) RNA are often used as the proximal mediators. Consequently, in experimental systems, many of the same cellular genes can be independently induced by virus infection or treatments with IFN or dsRNA. This article focuses on this group of genes, and we discuss their induction characteristics and the functions of proteins encoded by selected members.