PHYSICAL PROPERTIES OF CHICK INTERFERON

Kreuz, Leo E. (The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md.), and Allan H. Levy. Physical properties of chick interferon. J. Bacteriol. 89:462-469. 1965.-The sedimentation coefficient, diffusion coefficient, and molecular weight of chick-embryo interferon were determined by zone centrifugation and equilibrium sedimentation in cesium chloride density gradients, and by chromatography on Sephadex G-100 columns. Purified interferon is not available in quantities sufficient to permit direct analysis by chemical or physical means; its relative concentrations were determined, therefore, by bioassay. I(125)-human serum albumin was used as an internal reference in all experiments. The sedimentation coefficient of chick-embryo interferon is 2.2 to 2.3S; the diffusion coefficient is 9.5 x 10(-7) cm(2)sec(-1). A molecular weight of 26,000 was calculated from the sedimentation and diffusion coefficients, and a range of 25,000 to 34,000 daltons was obtained from equilibrium-sedimentation analyses.