Biopolymers and cell. 1998; 14 (6): 561 - 566

A possible general mechanism of the signal transfer switching on the a//?-interferons expression. 1, The local cell membrane deformation as the first induction stage

Alexander V. Karpov

A hypothetic mechanism of the external effect of viruses, synthetic polyaniones, double stranded RNAs, and synthetic double-stranded polyribonucleotides upon a cell is explained. This effect is known to be followed by the alfi-lFN Induction. Double-stranded RNAs and polynudeotides inducing such process are thought to change their conformation in an outer ionic perimembrane layer of cells and to induce the specific local, deformation of cell membranes giving a signal for the a/($-IFN induction. In the case of viruses such a membrane deformation appears on the stage of virus penetration into the cell. The ut/fi-IFN inducers of intercalating nature are proposed to cause the interferonogenesis in vivo forming complexes with exogenic RNA molecules and stabilizing their double-stranded sites with a partial complementarity.