Fibroblast cells obtained from two siblings and a female patient with Cockayne syndrome (CS), when pretreated with human interferon (HuIFN)-beta prior to irradiation with UV light (254 nm wavelength), exhibited transiently induced fibrinolytic protease activity immediately after the irradiation in association with increased refractoriness to UV cell-killing. A protease inhibitor, antipain, inhibited the induction of protease activity in lysates of the CS fibroblasts from these 3 cases after the combination of HuIFN-beta pretreatment and UV irradiation, whereas elastatinal and 5,5'-dithiobis(2-nitrobenzoic acid) (DTNB) inhibited the activity less than antipain did. Antipain also suppressed the increase in UV-refractoriness of HuIFN-beta-pretreated CS fibroblasts, as revealed by culturing cells for 24 h in medium containing the inhibitor immediately after UV exposure and thereafter evaluating the ability of colony formation by the cells. Thus, an antipain-sensitive protease may be involved in the UV-refractoriness induced by HuIFN-beta in CS fibroblast strains.