Interferon Response

What does the interferon response typically target?

Viruses and cancer

What is interferon alpha secreted by?

Plasmacytoid dendritic cells

What is interferon beta secreted by?

Epithelial cells, etc to warn of viral infection

What is interferon gamma secreted by?

Helper T-cells

What response is interferon gamma involved in?

Adaptive

What do cells activated by interferon beta do?

Synthesize antiviral proteins

Where does secreted interferon beta bind?

Nearby cells

Are the antiviral proteins synthesized by neighboring cells immediately active?

No, they only become active once the neighboring cell is infected

What do the antiviral proteins typically inhibit?

Viral protein synthesis (replication)

What does the interferon response lead to in infected cells?

Apoptosis

What elements of viruses do cells recognize?

PAMPs and dsRNA

Do interferons alpha and beta ultimately have the same effect?

Yes, just secreted by different cells

Do PAMPs activate the innate or adaptive response?

Innate (general characteristics of pathogens)

What receptors on immune cells bind to PAMPs?

Toll-like receptors

Which immune cells generally contain more TLRs?

Macrophages

How many different known TLRs are there?

13

What happens when immune cell TLRs bind to PAMPs?

Cell is activated