Interferon-lambda contributes to innate immunity of mice against influenza A virus but not against hepatotropic viruses.

ABSTRACT: Virus-infected cells secrete a broad range of interferon (IFN) subtypes which in turn trigger the synthesis of antiviral factors that confer host resistance. IFN-alpha, IFN-beta and other type I IFNs signal through a common universally expressed cell surface receptor, whereas IFN-lambda uses a distinct receptor complex for signaling that is not present on all cell types. Since type I IFN receptor-deficient mice (IFNAR1(0/0)) exhibit greatly increased susceptibility to various viral diseases, it remained unclear to which degree IFN-lambda might contribute to innate immunity. To address this issue we performed influenza A virus infections of mice which carry functional alleles of the influenza virus resistance gene Mx1 and which, therefore, develop a more complete innate immune response to i

SUBMITTER: Mordstein M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2522277 | biostudies-literature | 2008 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature