Novel Human Leukocyte Interferon Subtype and Structural Comparison of Alpha Interferon Genes

In the cDNA library of virus-induced human leukocytes a novel subtype of IFN-α gene has been identified and sequenced, named IFN-α-N. A comparison of nucleotide sequences within the genes coding for different subtypes of human leukocyte interferon (IFN-α) has revealed the natural hybrid structure of individual α-IFNs-H,B,F, and N. Certain regions of the genes for IFN-α-H,B,F,N show a homology with one of the two structurally distinct groups of leukocyte interferons—either IFN-α-A,D or IFN-α-C,C1 utilized as reference standards.