# REGULATORY AND ANTITUMOR EFFECTS OF GAMMA INTERFERON

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA · 1989 · $174,766

## Abstract

Gamma interferon (IFN gamma) is an important lymphokine that Plays
a pivotal role in the regulation of essential immune functions in
host defense against cancer.  Among these are:  (1) modulation of
expression of products of the major histocompatibility complex on
the cell membrane, particularly the upregulation of expression of
Ia antigens or macrophages; (2) priming/activation of macrophages
for tumor cell killing; (3) enhancement of cytoxicity of
lymphocytes, including that of antigen stimulated T lymphocytes and
that of natural killer cells against tumor cells:  (4) maturation
of B cells for immunoglobulin secretion which, depending on the
stage of clonal expansion of the cells, is manifested as either
enhancement or suppression of antibody production.

We propose to further examine the structure/function basis for the
biological effects of IFN gamma using the synthetic peptide
approach with monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies to IFN gamma and
IFN gamma synthetic peptides.  It is planed  that the objective be
achieved through the following approach:  (1) generate monoclonal
antibodies to mouse (and human) IFN gamma and determine their
ability to block function and/or binding of IFN gamma to membrane
receptors; (2) map epitope specificity of monoclonal antibodies
using synthetic peptides that correspond to regions of the IFN
gamma molecule that are located on the surface; initial mapping
will involve longer peptides, followed by use of shorter peptides
for possibly more precise mapping; (3) use synthetic peptides to
produce monoclonal and polyclonal antibodies and determine their
effect on function and receptor binding by IFN gamma; (4) determine
the steric relationships of epitopes by competitive binding between
monoclonal antibodies (and their Fab fragments) of defined epitope
specificities with the IFN gamma molecule; (5) perform competitive
receptor binding and functional experiments between synthetic
peptides and IFN gamma, and determine the ability of appropriate
peptides to bind to IFN gamma receptor; particular emphasis will
placed on the use of longer peptides; (6) modify peptides that are
important in epitope mapping and receptor competition by systematic
removal and/or substitution of amino acids in order to more
precisely identify sequences or regions of IFN gamma that are
involved in function; (7) synthesize hybrid molecules to help
identify discontinuous regions of the IFN gamma molecule that may
act cooperatively to form structures that are critical for IFN
gamma function.  The proposed studies are important because they
will provide information on the structural basis for the action of
IFN gamma in regulation of immune functions and neoplasia.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3176673
- **Project number:** 7R01CA038587-05
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
- **SAM.gov UEI:** NNFQH1JAPEP3
- **Principal Investigator:** HOWARD M JOHNSON
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1989
- **Award amount:** $174,766
- **Award type:** 7
- **Project period:** 1984-12-01 → 1993-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3176673

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3176673, REGULATORY AND ANTITUMOR EFFECTS OF GAMMA INTERFERON (7R01CA038587-05). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3176673. Licensed CC0.

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