News tagged with interferon
Genetic diversity: Crucial for our survival in many ways
(Medical Xpress) -- Thanks to the sequencing of the 27 known human interferon genes, researchers from the Institut Pasteur and the CNRS reconstruct the genetic history of these proteins so central for our immune system, and ...
Dec 20, 2011 |
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Boceprevir: Indication of added benefit for specific patients
The active ingredient boceprevir has been available since the middle of 2011 as a treatment for chronic hepatitis C of genotype 1. In an early benefit assessment pursuant to the "Act on the Reform of the Market for Medicinal ...
Dec 09, 2011 |
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Discordance among commercially-available diagnostics for latent TB infection
In populations with a low prevalence of tuberculosis (TB), the majority of positives with the three tests commercially available in the U.S for the diagnosis of TB are false positives, according to a new study.
Dec 09, 2011 |
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Neuroscientists boost memory using genetics and a new memory-enhancing drug
When the activity of a molecule that is normally elevated during viral infections is inhibited in the brain, mice learn and remember better, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine reported in a recent article in the journal ...
Medicine & Health / Neuroscience
Dec 08, 2011 |
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Probiotics reduce infections for patients in intensive care
Traumatic brain injury is associated with a profound suppression of the patient's ability to fight infection. At the same time the patient also often suffers hyper-inflammation, due to the brain releasing glucocorticoids ...
Dec 02, 2011 |
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Recipient's immune system governs stem cell regeneration
A new study in Nature Medicine describes how different types of immune system T-cells alternately discourage and encourage stem cells to regrow bone and tissue, bringing into sharp focus the importance of the transplant recipient's ...
Nov 20, 2011 |
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Study documents toll of smoke inhalation injuries
A study of burn patients has found that those who suffered the most severe smoke inhalation also had more inflammation and spent more time on ventilators and in intensive care.
Nov 16, 2011 |
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Engineered, drug-secreting blood vessels reverse anemia in mice
Patients who rely on recombinant, protein-based drugs must often endure frequent injections, often several times a week, or intravenous therapy. Researchers at Children's Hospital Boston demonstrate the possibility that blood ...
Nov 15, 2011 |
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What role do cytokines play in autoimmune diseases?
Cytokines, a varied group of signaling chemicals in the body, have been described as the software that runs the immune system, but when that software malfunctions, dysregulation of the immune system can result in debilitating ...
Oct 27, 2011 |
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Monitoring how T cells respond to HIV
One of the obstacles to developing an effective AIDS vaccine is the difficulty in measuring how well a potential vaccine primes the body to defend itself against HIV.
Medicine & Health / HIV & AIDS
Oct 14, 2011 |
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New potential therapeutic target for breast cancer
A possible new target for breast cancer therapy comes from the discovery that the Tyk2 protein helps suppress the growth and metastasis of breast tumors, as reported in Journal of Interferon & Cytokine Re ...
Oct 05, 2011 |
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Alcohol impairs the body's ability to fight off viral infection
Alcohol is known to worsen the effects of disease, resulting in longer recovery period after trauma, injury or burns. It is also known to impair the anti-viral immune response, especially in the liver, including response ...
Sep 30, 2011 |
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Hepatitis C patients likely to falter in adherence to treatment regimen over time
Patients being treated for chronic hepatitis C become less likely to take their medications over time, according to a new study from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Since the study also ...
Sep 29, 2011 |
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Virus attacks childhood cancers
Researchers from Yale University are looking to a virus from the same family as the rabies virus to fight a form of cancer primarily found in children and young adults. They report their findings in the September 2011 issue ...
Aug 29, 2011 |
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Cracking the interferon code
(Medical Xpress) -- Interferons, protective chemicals produced by most cells in the body, live up to their name, hampering cancer and viral infections. It takes many different kinds of interferon molecules to get the job ...
Aug 24, 2011 |
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Interferon
Interferons (IFNs) are proteins made and released by host cells in response to the presence of pathogens—such as viruses, bacteria, or parasites—or tumor cells. They allow communication between cells to trigger the protective defenses of the immune system that eradicate pathogens or tumors.
IFNs belong to the large class of glycoproteins known as cytokines. Interferons are named after their ability to "interfere" with viral replication within host cells. IFNs have other functions: they activate immune cells, such as natural killer cells and macrophages; they increase recognition of infection or tumor cells by up-regulating antigen presentation to T lymphocytes; and they increase the ability of uninfected host cells to resist new infection by virus. Certain host symptoms, such as aching muscles and fever, are related to the production of IFNs during infection.
About ten distinct IFNs have been identified in mammals; seven of these have been described for humans. They are typically divided among three IFN classes: Type I IFN, Type II IFN, and Type III IFN. IFNs belonging to all IFN classes are very important for fighting viral infections.
For more information about Interferon, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
