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Updated: Aug 17, 2026

Dissecting Innate Immune Signaling in Viral Evasion of Cytokine Production
Published on: March 2, 2014
RNA-dependent protein kinase is required for alpha-1 interferon transgene-induced resistance to genital herpes
Daniel J J Carr1, Lisa Tomanek, Robert H Silverman
1Department of Ophthalmology, DMEI #415, The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, 608 Stanton L. Young Blvd., Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA. dan-carr@ouhsc.edu
Abstract:
We investigated the mechanism of resistance to genital herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) infection in mice transfected with the murine alpha-1 interferon (IFN-alpha1) transgene. In situ transfection of mice with the IFN-alpha1 transgene resulted in an elevation in an IFN-responsive gene, RNA-dependent protein kinase (PKR), but not 2',5'-oligoadenylate synthetases (OAS), in vaginal tissue. Coupled with the finding that mice lacking a functional PKR pathway were no longer resistant to genital HSV-2 infection following transfection with the IFN-alpha1 transgene in comparison to wild-type mice or mice lacking a functional OAS pathway, these results suggest that PKR is the dominant antiviral pathway activated by the IFN-alpha1 transgene.
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