ABSTRACT
The most important innate antiviral defence system is the type I interferons. These interferons are a family of closely related cytokines that consists of 12 interferon-alpha subtypes, one interferonbeta 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.
