Interferon-induced alterations in membrane functions and the growth of Daudi lymphoma and Friend leukemia cells

The Friend murine erythroleukemia cell system and the Daudi Burkitt's lymphoma cell system were used to study the effect of growth-inhibitory concentrations of interferon on membrane functions. Experiments with Friend-cell clones sensitive and resistant to interferon indicated that a number of changes in membrane transport occur rapidly after the addition of interferon to sensitive cells. While no change was observed in the activity of the (Na+/K+) ATPase in Friend cells sensitive or resistant to interferon, a piretanide-inhibitable Na+,K+, 2Cl- co-transport system was specifically inhibited after interferon treatment of sensitive cells. In contrast, treatment of Daudi cells with purified molecularly cloned or standard preparations of human leukocyte interferon gave rise to no early changes in the transport of amino acids, 32Pi, sugars, or 86Rb+. The major change observed in Daudi cells was a marked reduction in the uptake and incorporation of thymidine, which begins to decrease after 8-10 h of exposure to interferon.