In response to type I IFNs, STAT1 and STAT2 undergo phosphorylation mediated by receptor-associated kinases, Janus kinase 1 (JAK1) and tyrosine kinase 2 (TYK2), and form the heterotrimeric IFN-stimulated gene factor 3 (ISGF3) complex, together with IFN-regulatory factor 9 (IRF9), followed by nuclear translocation (reviewed in reference 27). The ISGF3 complex binds and activates the ISRE-containing promoters of IFN-inducible genes. After release from promoter regions, STAT1 is dephosphorylated by a nuclear protein tyrosine phosphatase, TC45, and exported to the cytoplasm (23). IFN signal transduction pathways are activated rapidly but persist only transiently in the absence of additional stimulation; aberrant regulation causes various immune disorders. Accurate regulation of STAT1 activity is crucial for the innate immune response, and it is modulated by various posttranslational modifications, such as tyrosine phosphorylation (38), serine phosphorylation (47), methylation (24), sumoylation (45), and ubiquitination (14). In addition, it was recently reported that acetylation of STAT1 causes recruitment of TC45 and subsequent dephosphorylation (16).Several negative regulatory mechanisms for STAT1 activity have also been described. STAT1 can be dephosphorylated by specific phosphatases, such as TC45 (41) and Src homology 2 domain-containing protein tyrosine phosphatase 2 (SHP-2) (48). Suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) proteins block STAT1 tyrosine phosphorylation by inactivating kinases through proteasomal degradation (46) and also direct inhibition of tyrosine kinase activity (7). Protein inhibitor of activated STAT (PIAS) proteins prevent DNA binding of STAT1 (19). PIAS family members have been shown to promote STAT1 sumoylation; however, the functional consequences are controversial (32,44,45). These diverse STAT1 regulatory mechanisms can be exploited by viruses to impair IFN signal transduction pathways and, hence, evade host immune response (reviewed in reference 29).STAT1 is a stable protein with a half-life of Ͼ24 h (17). Ad infection has not been reported to affect the basal protein level of STAT1 in unstimulated cells. In a previous study, E1A proteins were shown to interact with STAT1 and inhibit IFN-␥-inducible gene expression in primary human tracheobronchial epithelial (hTBE) cells (20). Using the same cells, these authors also showed that Ad blocks IFN-␣-induced STAT1 tyrosine phosphorylation by downregulating JAK1 expression (37). The E1A proteins were also previously shown to inhibit ISGF3 DNA binding and IFN-stimulated gene expression (1,2,9,13,18,31,35). Ad and other viruses have evolved redundant mechanisms to counteract host antiviral responses. Thus, Ad may have evolved additional strategies to block early stages of an IFN signaling response, since this response is so detrimental to virus infection. This prompted us to investigate if other aspects of Ad infection inhibit IFN-induced antiviral activities.