ABSTRACT
Interferons were subsequently shown to be members of two classes of proteins with many different biological activities. The production of recombinant interferons derived from genes from many different mammalian species hasmade significant quantities of these proteins available for clinical trials as well as greatly increasing our knowledge of their biology and genetics. Two distinct classes of proteins have antiviral activity and so are called interferons. One class, called class I interferons, consists of three closely related protein families called interferon- α (IFN- α), interferon- ω (IFN- ω, sometimes called interferon- α2), and interferon- β (IFN- β). The ability of cells in culture to produce interferon will obviously vary with their viability, age, passage level, and the presence of secondary infections with viruses or Mycoplasma. The production of both IFN-α and IFN-β is controlled at both the transcriptional and posttranscriptional levels.
