IFN-gamma induces a number of cellular programs functional in innate and ad
aptive resistance to infectious pathogens. It has recently become clear tha
t the complete cellular response to IFN-gamma is extraordinarily complex, w
ith >500 genes (i.e., similar to 0.5% of the genome) activated. We made sup
pression-subtractive hybridization differential libraries from IFN-gamma-st
imulated primary mouse embryonic fibroblasts and from a mouse macrophage ce
ll line, ANA-1, in each case with reference to unstimulated cells. Of simil
ar to 250 clones sequenced at random from the two libraries, >35% were repr
esentatives of one or the other of two small unrelated families of GTPases,
the 65-kDa and 47-kDa families. These families dominate the IFN-gamma-indu
ced response in both cell types. We report here the full-length sequences o
f one new 65-kDa and two new 47-kDa family members, The 65-kDa family membe
rs are under transcriptional control of IRF-1, whereas the 47-kDa family me
mbers are inducible in embryonic fibroblasts from IRF-1(-/-) mice. Members
of both GTPase families are strongly up-regulated in livers of wild-type mi
ce infected with the pathogenic bacterium, Listeria monocytogenes, but not
in IFN-gamma R-0/0 mice. These GTPases appear to be dedicated to the IFN-ga
mma response, since resting levels are negligible and since neither family
shows any significant relationship to any other described family of GTPases
, Understanding the role of these GTPases in IFN-gamma-mediated resistance
against pathogens is the task for the future.