ABSTRACT
The most important innate antiviral defence system is the type I interferons. The interferons are a family of closely related cytokines that consists of 12 interferon alpha subtypes, one interferon beta subtype and one interferon omega subtype. These interferons are rapidly produced by virally infected cells and, once released, they bind to cell surface receptors and induce the production of a large number of proteins that inhibit viral replication.
