Institute of Virology, Chinese Academy of Preventive Medicine, National Laboratory of Molecular Virology, Beijing, PRC.
Human interferon omega 1 (huIFN-omega 1) gene was isolated and cloned from chromosome DNA derived from a Chinese fetal liver via polymerase chain reaction (PCR). By determining its nucleotide sequence we proved that the 88th codon should be GGA, coding for Gly. After engineering the original IFN-omega 1 gene clone to a form that may be expressed as a nonfused protein, we also took the IFN-omega 1 gene under the control of the PRPL promoter with an expression vector pBV220 in E. coli. The antivirus activity of the recombinant IFN-omega 1 is about 6.5 x 10(7) units/L CULTURE (OD600 = 0.75). Since IFN-omega 1 not only has antivirus activity but also shows considerably high homology with animal trophoblast proteins which have been proved antiluteolysins as a maternal recognition signal for pregnancy, we believe that study on it will be practically and theoretically significant.