Are you an EPFL student looking for a semester project?
Work with us on data science and visualisation projects, and deploy your project as an app on top of Graph Search.
Concept
Interferon
Summary
Interferons (IFNs, ˌɪntərˈfɪərɒn) are a group of signaling proteins made and released by host cells in response to the presence of several viruses. In a typical scenario, a virus-infected cell will release interferons causing nearby cells to heighten their anti-viral defenses.
IFNs belong to the large class of proteins known as cytokines, molecules used for communication between cells to trigger the protective defenses of the immune system that help eradicate pathogens. Interferons are named for their ability to "interfere" with viral replication by protecting cells from virus infections. However, virus-encoded genetic elements have the ability to antagonize the IFN response contributing to viral pathogenesis and viral diseases. IFNs also have various other functions: they activate immune cells, such as natural killer cells and macrophages, and they increase host defenses by up-regulating antigen presentation by virtue of increasing the expression of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens. Certain symptoms of infections, such as fever, muscle pain and "flu-like symptoms", are also caused by the production of IFNs and other cytokines.
More than twenty distinct IFN genes and proteins have been identified in animals, including humans. They are typically divided among three classes: Type I IFN, Type II IFN, and Type III IFN. IFNs belonging to all three classes are important for fighting viral infections and for the regulation of the immune system.
Based on the type of receptor through which they signal, human interferons have been classified into three major types.
Interferon type I: All type I IFNs bind to a specific cell surface receptor complex known as the IFN-α/β receptor (IFNAR) that consists of IFNAR1 and IFNAR2 chains. The type I interferons present in humans are IFN-α, IFN-β, IFN-ε, IFN-κ and IFN-ω. In general, type I interferons are produced when the body recognizes a virus that has invaded it. They are produced by fibroblasts and monocytes. However, the production of type I IFN-α is inhibited by another cytokine known as Interleukin-10.
Official source
About this result
This page is automatically generated and may contain information that is not correct, complete, up-to-date, or relevant to your search query. The same applies to every other page on this website. Please make sure to verify the information with EPFL's official sources.
Ontological neighbourhood
Related courses (5)
BIOENG-399: Immunoengineering
Immunoengineering is an emerging field where engineering principles are grounded in immunology. This course provides students a broad overview of how engineering approaches can be utilized to study im
BIO-310: Immunology
Ce cours décrit le fonctionnement du système immunitaire humain et les bases immunologiques de la vaccination, de la transplantation, de l'immunothérapie, et de l'allergie. Il présente aussi le rôle d
CH-317: Drug discovery and development
This course discusses the molecular basis of diseases and how drugs work. Concepts and processes employed in today's drug discovery and development are covered. The first part of the course focuses on
Related lectures (32)
Synchronous Machines: Operation and Topogram
Explains synchronization of synchronous machines with the power grid and analyzes power diagrams.
Introduction to the Immune SystemMOOC: Introduction à l'immunologie (part 1)
Explains the three lines of immune defense and the role of innate immune cells in phagocytosis.
Hormones and Cytokines
Explores hormones, cytokines, insulin, interferons, and DNase I enzyme in cystic fibrosis treatment.
Related publications (237)
Related people (36)
Related concepts (29)
Virus
A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea. Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1892 article describing a non-bacterial pathogen infecting tobacco plants and the discovery of the tobacco mosaic virus by Martinus Beijerinck in 1898, more than 11,000 of the millions of virus species have been described in detail.
Infection
An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable disease, is an illness resulting from an infection. Infections can be caused by a wide range of pathogens, most prominently bacteria and viruses. Hosts can fight infections using their immune systems. Mammalian hosts react to infections with an innate response, often involving inflammation, followed by an adaptive response.
Natural killer cell
Natural killer cells, also known as NK cells or large granular lymphocytes (LGL), are a type of cytotoxic lymphocyte critical to the innate immune system that belong to the rapidly expanding family of known innate lymphoid cells (ILC) and represent 5–20% of all circulating lymphocytes in humans. The role of NK cells is analogous to that of cytotoxic T cells in the vertebrate adaptive immune response. NK cells provide rapid responses to virus-infected cell and other intracellular pathogens acting at around 3 days after infection, and respond to tumor formation.
Related MOOCs (5)
Introduction à l'immunologie (part 1)
Ce cours décrit les mécanismes fondamentaux du système immunitaire pour mieux comprendre les bases immunologiques dela vaccination, de la transplantation, de l’immunothérapie, de l'allergie et des mal