Constitutive synthesis of polyoma antisense RNA renders cells immune to virus infection

Mouse fibroblasts were stably transfected with expression plasmids in which sequences of the early region of polyomavirus were inserted both in sense and antisense orientation. The cell lines that synthesize in the antisense orientation, a 1195-bp viral genome fragment covering the Ori, Cap, ATG, and all of the early mRNA splicing sites acquire resistance to viral infection. Smaller fragments covering Ori, Cap, and ATG sites or the splicing sites, as well as fragments cloned in sense orientation, failed to confer cell immunity to polyoma infection. The resistance proved to be directly dependent upon the specific antisense RNA and to be inversely proportional to the multiplicity of infecting polyoma.