Interferons with Special Emphasis on the Immune System

Abstract

Publisher Summary First described in 1957, interferons are induced animal proteins. A variety of stimulating substances can act as interferon inducers, and interferons inhibit a wide range of viruses by inducing an intracellular antiviral state; however, many interferons are species-specific in their antiviral activity. The suggestion that a few thousand molecules of interferon may induce an antiviral state indicates that they are among the most active biological substances. There are three general types of human interferon, designated alpha, beta, and gamma. When stimulated with virus, leukocytes in cultures produce predominantly the species called “alpha interferon.” There are at least 14 distinct genes for human alpha interferon. Most alpha interferons contain little or no carbohydrate. While human-beta interferon is usually species-specific and for the most part induces antiviral activity only in human cells, human-alpha interferons induce activity in human as well as some animal cell cultures. Gama interferon is antigenically distinct from them and is more labile to acid. Most alpha and beta interferons are quite stable at pH 2, while the antiviral activity of gamma interferon is significantly reduced.