From Proteopedia
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IFN Categories and IFNβ-1a sources
Interferons (IFNs) are a family of helical cytokines that mediate
antiviral, antiproliferative, and immune modulatory activities in
response to biological and chemical stimuli~Stewart, 1979; Sen &
Lengyel, 1992; Tyring, 1995!. Two types of IFN are recognized on
the basis of their physical and biological properties; type I, which
contains the monomeric IFNs-a,-b,-t, and -v, and type II, the
only member of which is the dimeric IFN-g. Representatives of all
type I and type II IFNs are found in humans, except for IFN-t,
which is found only in ruminant ungulates~Li & Roberts, 1994;
Bazer et al., 1997!. There are 12 different human IFNs-a~each one
comprising a different subtype! although 14 different genes have
been identified, whereas human IFN-b, IFN-v, and IFN-gare
encoded by single genes~Weissmann & Weber, 1986; Diaz et al.,
1994; Pestka, 1997a, 1997b!.
Structure info. of IFNβ-1a
IFNβ-1a biological activity and therapeutic effects
Mechanism of action for IFNβ-1a
Reference
