Ben MacDonald
Type 1 Interferons (IFNs) are small, proteins produced by many different cells in the body. Many cells that are a part of the immune system produce these proteins. These cell types are abundant in both the innate and adaptive immune system. These are just the two subclasses of the immune system. These proteins help work with immune responses against viral infections.
They produce patterns that our immune cells recognize to help take out foreign invaders trying to infect us and make us sick. Additionally, these are key in recognizing foreign bodies in the part of the cell called the cytosol, which is just a portion of the cell mostly made of water. This is usually in the form of viral RNA which is just like our human DNA, but for viruses. Once activated, these IFN proteins start producing what are called ISGs, or Interferon-stimulated genes. These ISGs have many functions and can target almost a virus trying to take over a cell to replicate its RNA. Many of these ISG’s exact functions and how they work are unknown, however, the best known one is myxovirus resistance 1 (MX1). This gene is known for essentially stopping virus reproduction/replication. These small proteins are particularly important for viruses as these proteins recognize the signal to begin replication. They must recognize when to stop the gene from being duplicated so the correct proteins are formed.
Similar to how humans have DNA/RNA polymerase, which is just another fancy term for a
protein many animals in the world have. The polymerases of viral RNA/DNA are crucial as these viruses cannot carry as many genes as humans due to their extremely small size. MX1 and other ISGs can disrupt these polymerases, which can help shut down a virus’s life cycle and completely remove it from our system. Combined with the enhanced action of our immune cells that produce these proteins, these IFNs can provide possible long-term solutions to many dangerous viruses that harm many across the globe. IFNs and their related ISGs have been put through clinical trials to try and prove their effectiveness against certain viruses, most notably Hepatitis-C. This virus-based disease can severely damage the liver and even cause cirrhosis, which causes the liver to severely scar and, worst-case scenario, can cause liver failure/death. Researchers have developed ways to achieve what is called SVR or sustained virologic response. IFNs have also been part of recent clinical trials involving cancer and autoimmune diseases. For example, IFN-a has been used in combination with other chemotherapeutic drugs to help increase survival rates in melanoma. Moreover, IFN-B has been shown to have positive effects on patients with multiple sclerosis
(MS).
References:
Lin FC, Young HA. Interferons: Success in anti-viral immunotherapy. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev. 2014;25(4):369-376. doi:10.1016/j.cytogfr.2014.07.015
McNab F, Mayer-Barber K, Sher A, Wack A, O'Garra A. Type I interferons in infectious disease. Nat Rev Immunol. 2015;15(2):87-103. doi:10.1038/nri3787
Ye J, Chen J. Interferon and Hepatitis B: Current and Future Perspectives. Front Immunol. 2021;12:733364. Published 2021 Sep 7. doi:10.3389/fimmu.2021.733364
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