Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 1998 Jun 15;58(12):2489-99.

Biological properties of recombinant alpha-interferons: 40th anniversary of the discovery of interferons

L M Pfeffer  1 , C A Dinarello, R B Herberman, B R Williams, E C Borden, R Bordens, M R Walter, T L Nagabhushan, P P Trotta, S Pestka
Affiliations
  • PMID: 9635566
Review

Biological properties of recombinant alpha-interferons: 40th anniversary of the discovery of interferons

L M Pfeffer et al. Cancer Res. .

Abstract

IFNs were first described as potent antiviral agents 40 years ago, and recombinant IFN-alpha2a and IFN-alpha2b were approved for the treatment of hairy cell leukemia just 11 years ago. Today, alpha-IFNs are approved worldwide for the treatment of a variety of malignancies and virologic diseases. Although the exact mechanism of action of IFN-alpha in the treatment of such diseases is not fully understood, many advances have been made in the characterization of the physicochemical and diverse biological properties of this highly pleiotropic cytokine. Here we review recent developments in our understanding of the antiviral and immunoregulatory properties of IFN-alpha, the nature of the multisubunit IFN-alpha receptor, and the molecular mechanisms of signal transduction. Where available, we have included comparative data on recombinant alpha-IFNs derived from both naturally occurring and nonnaturally occurring synthetic genes. We also review clinical data and data on the side effects and antigenicity of different sources of recombinant alpha-IFNs in humans. These latter topics are of clinical interest, because they may potentially affect the efficacy of these various products. Hopefully, what is already known about IFN will prompt further exploration into the mechanism(s) of action of IFN-alpha and thus deliver new applications for this prototypic cytokine, whose full therapeutic potential is yet to be realized.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

Publication types

MeSH terms

LinkOut - more resources