IFNA2: The prototypic human alpha interferon

Franciane Paul (1) , Sandra Pellegrini (2) , Gilles Uzé (1)

1 DIMNP - Dynamique des interactions membranaires normales et pathologiques
2 Signalisation des Cytokines

The human interferon α2 (IFNα2) was the first highly active IFN subtype to be cloned in the early eighties. It was also the first IFN and the first cytokine to be produced and commercialized by the pharmaceutical industry. Ipso facto it became the favorite IFNα subtype for academic researchers. For this fortunate reason IFNα2 has been at the origin of most discoveries related to the mechanism of action of type I interferons.

Keywords: Cytokine; Interferon α2; Type I interferon

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]; Immunology

Franciane Paul, Sandra Pellegrini, Gilles Uzé. IFNA2: The prototypic human alpha interferon. Gene, 2015, 567 (2), pp.132-137. ⟨10.1016/j.gene.2015.04.087⟩. ⟨pasteur-02137013⟩