IFN-alpha 4 Products

Description

Interferons (IFN) are a family of cytokines with potent antiviral, antiproliferative and immunomodulatory properties, classified based on their binding specificity to cell surface receptors (1). Human IFNA2 was originally cloned in the early ‘80s and now more than a dozen closely related IFN alpha subtypes have been identified in both the human and mouse genome, each sharing about 80% amino acid (aa) sequence homology (2-4). Structurally, type I IFNs belong to the class of five helical‑bundle cytokines, with the IFNA subtypes containing 2 conserved disulfide bonds (5). The mature human IFNA4 shares 57% aa sequence identity with mouse IFNA4. Two variants of human IFNA4 are known to exist, IFNA4a and IFNA4b, which only differ by residues at aa position 74 and 137 (6). The type I IFNs bind to the interferon alpha receptor (IFNAR), which consists of two subunits: IFNAR1 (alpha -subunit) and IFNAR2 (beta -subunit) (7, 8). Individual IFNA subtypes are known to display unique efficacies to viral protection, and IFNA4 has been shown to be an intermediate inducer of IFN-stimulated genes and anti-viral protection (9). Mutations in IFNA4 can cause impaired function and lead to Crohn's disease susceptibility (10). IFNA4 also exhibits strong antiviral effects against SARS-CoV-2 (11).

Bioinformatics

Uniprot	P05014.2
Product By Gene ID	3441
Alternate Names	IFNA4 IFNalpha 4 IFN-alpha 4 IFN-alpha-4 IFN-alpha4a INFA4 interferon alpha-4 Interferon alpha-4B Interferon alpha-76 Interferon alpha-M1 interferon, alpha 4 MGC142200