Recombinant Human IFN-alpha A

Interon-alpha (IFN-alpha), also known as leukocyte interferon, represents a group of related but distinct proteins that share over 95% amino acid sequence homology. They are members of the type I interferon family which share a common cell surface receptor composed of two subunits, a 100 kDa ligand-binding subunit (IFN-alpha R2) and a 125 kDa ligand binding and signal transduction subunit (IFN-alpha R1) that is involved both in ligand binding and signal transduction ^{[1, 2]}. IFN-alpha has both anti-viral and immunomodulatory activities on target cells. Type I Interferons (IFNs) are well-known cytokines that exert antiviral activity, antitumor activity, and immunomodulatory effects. Interferon tau (IFNT), a type I IFN similar to alpha IFNs (IFNA), is the pregnancy recognition signal produced by the ruminant conceptus. Among the IFN-α genes, a total of 28 different sequence variants have been described. The three principal subtypes of IFNα-2 are designated α-2a, α-2b, and α-2c. IFNα-2b is being the predominant allele while IFNα-2a is less predominant and IFNα-2c only a minor allelic variant ^{[2, 3]}.

Reference

[1]. Wang. et al. (2004) J Neuroimmunol. 156(1-2): 107-12.

[2]. Groopman JE, et al. (1984) Ann Intern Med. 100(5): 671-6.

[3]. Krueger JM, et al. (1987) Int J Immunopharmacol. 9(1): 23-30.