Human cytomegalovirus immediate-early 2 gene expression blocks virus-induced beta interferon production

The effect of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) gene expression on beta interferon (IFN-beta) expression was examined. We demonstrate that the HCMV immediate-early 2 (IE2) gene product IE86 can effectively block the induction of IFN-beta during HCMW infection. IE86 also efficiently blocked the induction of IFN-beta following Sendai virus infection, demonstrating that IE86's ability to block induction of IFN-beta is not limited to HCMW infection, identifying IE2 as an IFN-beta antagonist.