Interferons: Success in anti-viral immunotherapy - PubMed (original) (raw)

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Interferons: Success in anti-viral immunotherapy

Fan-ching Lin et al. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev. 2014 Aug.

Abstract

The interferons (IFNs) are glycoproteins with strong antiviral activities that represent one of the first lines of host defense against invading pathogens. These proteins are classified into three groups, Type I, II and III IFNs, based on the structure of their receptors on the cell surface. Due to their ability to modulate immune responses, they have become attractive therapeutic options to control chronic virus infections. In combination with other drugs, Type I IFNs are considered as "standard of care" in suppressing Hepatitis C (HCV) and Hepatitis B (HBV) infections, while Type III IFN has generated encouraging results as a treatment for HCV infection in phase III clinical trials. However, though effective, using IFNs as a treatment is not without the need for caution. IFNs are such powerful cytokines that affect a wide array of cell types; as a result, patients usually experience unpleasant symptoms, with a percentage of patients suffering system wide effects. Thus, constant monitoring is required for patients treated with IFN in order to reach the treatment goals of suppressing virus infection and maintaining quality of life.

Keywords: Antiviral therapy; IFN-α/β; IFN-γ; IFN-λ.

Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict-of interest disclosure: The authors declare no competing financial interests

Figures

Fig 1

Fig 1. Interferon canonical signaling pathways

Type I, II and III IFNs bind to their specific receptors on the cell membrane and trigger JAK-STAT signaling pathway. While Type I and III can phosphorylate both STAT1 and STAT2 to form ISGF3 and GAF that binds to ISRE and GAS respectively in the promoter region of responding genes, Type II IFN can only phosphorylate STAT1 and induce expression of genes with GAS in the promoter region.

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