Inhibition of vesicular stomatitis viral mRNA synthesis by interferons

Interferon (IFN) treatment inhibited the replication of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) in human GM2767 and mouse JLSV-11 cells. The replication of this virus in either human RD-114 or mouse A402 cells was insensitive to IFN treatment. We analyzed various steps in the VSV life cycle as they occurred under different conditions of IFN treatment to identify the point(s) at which IFN was exerting its inhibitory effect. IFN treatment led to strong inhibition of viral protein synthesis and accumulation of viral RNA in both lines of IFN-sensitive cells. No such effect was observed in the IFN-resistant cells. Using a temperature-sensitive mutant (tsG41) and wild-type VSV that were not undergoing protein synthesis, we determined that the major site of action of IFN against VSV replication in JLSV-11 and GM2767 cells was at the level of primary viral transcription. The accumulation of primary viral transcripts was strongly inhibited in these cells by IFN treatment. This effect was not a consequence of any effect of IFN on virus entry and uncoating. Thus, it appears that IFN exerts a direct effect on the VSV transcriptional process in GM2767 and JLSV-11 cells.