Imanishi J
Dept. of Microbiology, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine.
Gan To Kagaku Ryoho. 1994 Dec;21(16):2853-8.
There are three types of interferons (IFN), alpha, beta and gamma. IFN-alpha is produced in the leukocytes infected with virus, while IFN-beta is from fibroblasts infected with virus. IFN-gamma is induced by the stimulation of sensitized lymphocytes with antigen or non-sensitized lymphocytes with mitogens. It is believed that IFN-alpha and beta originated from the same ancestral gene, whereas IFN-gamma did not. IFN has not only an antiviral activity, but also various kinds of biological activities including cell growth inhibition, immunosuppressive effects, enhancement of macrophage, natural killer (NK) cell, killer (K) cell and neutrophil functions, and cell differentiation-inducing activity. IFN also shows the antitumor activity resulting from the integration of the above-mentioned biological activities. IFN is also deeply involved in the pathogenesis of various diseases, e.g., collagen diseases such as SLE and rheumatoid arthritis, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, fulminant hepatitis, severe pancreatitis, nephritis, multiple sclerosis, allergic diseases, and atherosclerosis. At present, IFN is clinically used in therapy against virus infections such as hepatitis B and C, and for malignancies such as renal cell carcinoma, multiple myeloma, malignant melanoma, glioblastoma, skin cancers, malignant lymphoma and chronic myelogenous leukemia.
干扰素（IFN）有三种类型，即α、β和γ。α干扰素由感染病毒的白细胞产生，而β干扰素来自感染病毒的成纤维细胞。γ干扰素是由抗原刺激致敏淋巴细胞或有丝分裂原刺激未致敏淋巴细胞诱导产生的。据信，α干扰素和β干扰素起源于同一个祖先基因，而γ干扰素并非如此。干扰素不仅具有抗病毒活性，还具有多种生物学活性，包括抑制细胞生长、免疫抑制作用、增强巨噬细胞、自然杀伤（NK）细胞、杀伤（K）细胞和中性粒细胞的功能，以及诱导细胞分化的活性。干扰素还通过整合上述生物学活性表现出抗肿瘤活性。干扰素还与多种疾病的发病机制密切相关，例如系统性红斑狼疮和类风湿性关节炎等胶原疾病、胰岛素依赖型糖尿病、暴发性肝炎、重症胰腺炎、肾炎、多发性硬化症、过敏性疾病和动脉粥样硬化。目前，干扰素在临床上用于治疗乙型和丙型肝炎等病毒感染，以及肾细胞癌、多发性骨髓瘤、恶性黑色素瘤、胶质母细胞瘤、皮肤癌、恶性淋巴瘤和慢性粒细胞白血病等恶性肿瘤。
