Abstract
A study was undertaken to help determine whether synthetic nonbase-paired, single-stranded RNA as well as synthetic base-paired, double-stranded RNA could induce interferon. Synthetic polyriboinosinic acid and polyribocytidylic acid induced interferon and interferon-like resistance in several different cell culture systems. However, in the intact rabbit only the most active preparations of single-stranded RNA induced circulating interferon when injected intravenously. The induced interferon and antiviral effect in tissue culture and animals was shown to have characteristics of the interferon system. Contamination of the single-stranded synthetic RNA materials by small amounts of base-paired, double-stranded RNA was ruled out by failure to find sufficient heterologous nucleic acid bases by differential activities of single-stranded and double-stranded RNA's in different cell systems and by failure to detect double-stranded RNA in poly-rI upon chromatography on benzoylated DEAE-cellulose.