1fg9

Structural highlights

Disease

[IFNG_HUMAN] In Caucasians, genetic variation in IFNG is associated with the risk of aplastic anemia (AA) [MIM:609135]. AA is a rare disease in which the reduction of the circulating blood cells results from damage to the stem cell pool in bone marrow. In most patients, the stem cell lesion is caused by an autoimmune attack. T-lymphocytes, activated by an endogenous or exogenous, and most often unknown antigenic stimulus, secrete cytokines, including IFN-gamma, which would in turn be able to suppress hematopoiesis. [INGR1_HUMAN] Defects in IFNGR1 are a cause of Mendelian susceptibility to mycobacterial disease (MSMD) [MIM:209950]; also known as familial disseminated atypical mycobacterial infection. This rare condition confers predisposition to illness caused by moderately virulent mycobacterial species, such as Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine and environmental non-tuberculous mycobacteria, and by the more virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Other microorganisms rarely cause severe clinical disease in individuals with susceptibility to mycobacterial infections, with the exception of Salmonella which infects less than 50% of these individuals. The pathogenic mechanism underlying MSMD is the impairment of interferon-gamma mediated immunity whose severity determines the clinical outcome. Some patients die of overwhelming mycobacterial disease with lepromatous-like lesions in early childhood, whereas others develop, later in life, disseminated but curable infections with tuberculoid granulomas. MSMD is a genetically heterogeneous disease with autosomal recessive, autosomal dominant or X-linked inheritance.^{[1] [2]}

Function

[IFNG_HUMAN] Produced by lymphocytes activated by specific antigens or mitogens. IFN-gamma, in addition to having antiviral activity, has important immunoregulatory functions. It is a potent activator of macrophages, it has antiproliferative effects on transformed cells and it can potentiate the antiviral and antitumor effects of the type I interferons. [INGR1_HUMAN] Receptor for interferon gamma. Two receptors bind one interferon gamma dimer.

Evolutionary Conservation

Check, as determined by ConSurfDB. You may read the explanation of the method and the full data available from ConSurf.

See Also

• Interferon
• Interferon receptor

References

1. ↑ Jouanguy E, Lamhamedi-Cherradi S, Altare F, Fondaneche MC, Tuerlinckx D, Blanche S, Emile JF, Gaillard JL, Schreiber R, Levin M, Fischer A, Hivroz C, Casanova JL. Partial interferon-gamma receptor 1 deficiency in a child with tuberculoid bacillus Calmette-Guerin infection and a sibling with clinical tuberculosis. J Clin Invest. 1997 Dec 1;100(11):2658-64. PMID:9389728 doi:10.1172/JCI119810
2. ↑ Jouanguy E, Dupuis S, Pallier A, Doffinger R, Fondaneche MC, Fieschi C, Lamhamedi-Cherradi S, Altare F, Emile JF, Lutz P, Bordigoni P, Cokugras H, Akcakaya N, Landman-Parker J, Donnadieu J, Camcioglu Y, Casanova JL. In a novel form of IFN-gamma receptor 1 deficiency, cell surface receptors fail to bind IFN-gamma. J Clin Invest. 2000 May;105(10):1429-36. PMID:10811850 doi:10.1172/JCI9166
3. ↑ Thiel DJ, le Du MH, Walter RL, D'Arcy A, Chene C, Fountoulakis M, Garotta G, Winkler FK, Ealick SE. Observation of an unexpected third receptor molecule in the crystal structure of human interferon-gamma receptor complex. Structure. 2000 Sep 15;8(9):927-36. PMID:10986460