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The Interferons: Their Properties and Clinical Role — An Overview

  • Conference paper
Interferons: Mechanisms of Action and Role in Cancer Therapy

Part of the book series: ESO Monographs ((ESO MONOGRAPHS))

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Abstract

In 1957, two scientists working at the National Institute of Medical Research in London discovered that virus-infected cells became resistant to secondary infection. Drs. Alick Isaacs and Jean Lindenmann found that influenza virus-infected chick embryo cells released a substance that conferred on cells of the same species resistance to a wide range of viruses. This substance was named interferon and is now known to be secreted in small amounts by most vertebrate cells when they are appropriately stimulated. Interferon was originally described as a glycoprotein containing about 150 amino acids. It is now known that several types of interferon exist with differing amino-acid composition and varying amounts of carbohydrate.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. CRC Department of Medical Oncology, Christie Hospital and Holt Radium Institute, Wilmslow Road, Manchester, M20 9BX, UK

    Penella J. Woll & Derek Crowther

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  1. Penella J. Woll
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  2. Derek Crowther
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. CRC Department of Medical Oncology, Christie Hospital NHS Trust, Wilmslow Road, Manchester, M20 9BX, UK

    Derek Crowther

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© 1991 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Woll, P.J., Crowther, D. (1991). The Interferons: Their Properties and Clinical Role — An Overview. In: Crowther, D. (eds) Interferons: Mechanisms of Action and Role in Cancer Therapy. ESO Monographs. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76787-6_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76787-6_2

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-76789-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-76787-6

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