Table 1.
Antiviral activity of IFN-α subtypes.
| IFN subtype(s) | Viral infection | Effect | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| IFN-α1, 4, and 9 | MCMV | IFN-α1 transgene showed better antiviral activity than IFN-α4 or IFN-α9 | Yeow et al. (63) |
| IFN-α1, 2, 4, 5, 6, and 9 and IFN-β | MCMV | IFN-α6 transgene reduced MCMV replication, whereas IFN-α5 increased viral replication | Cull et al. (62) |
| IFN-α1, 2, 5, 8, 10, 14, 17, and 21 and IFN-β | MEV | IFN-α 5, 8, 10, 14, and 17 were highly effective, whereas IFN-α2 had a moderate effect and IFN-α1 was least effective | Foster et al. (64) |
| IFN-α1, 2, 5, and 8 and 10 | HCV | IFN-α8 was effective in suppressing HCV replication, whereas IFN-α1 is least effective | Koyama et al. (65) |
| IFN-α2, 6, 8, and 14 and IFN-β | HIV | Plasmids encoding IFN-α2, 6, 8, and 14 and IFN-β showed IFN-α14 and IFN-β were more protective than other subtypes in humanized mice | Abraham et al. (66) |
| IFNα4 and IFNα5 | HBV | Both proteins and plasmid encoding IFN-α4 and 5 showed anti-HBV activity | Song et al. (67) |
| IFN-α1, 2b, and 4b | Influenza A virus | IFN-α2b showed strong antiviral activity as compared to IFN-α1 or 4b | Moll et al. (68) |
| IFN-α1, 2, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 14, 17, and 21 | hMPV | IFN-α5, 6, 8, and 10 had higher antiviral activity | Scagnolari et al. (69) |
| IFN-α2 and 14 | HIV (humanized mice) | IFN-α14 suppressed HIV replication, induced tetherin, MX2, APOBEC3G, and increased numbers of TRAIL + NK cells compared to IFN-α2 | Lavender et al. (70) |
| IFN-α1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 14, 17, and 21 | MuV | IFN-α6 showed higher antiviral activity | Markusic et al. (71) |
| IFN α-01/13, 2, 6, 8, 14, 16, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, and 29, IFN-β, IFN-ω, and IFN-λ1 | SIV | IFN-α01/13, 2, 6, 8, 14, 16, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, IFN-β, IFN-ω, and IFN-λ1 were significantly increased in lymph nodes at day 10 postinfection compared to restricted expression in PBMC (IFN-α01/13 and IFN-λ1) and jejunum (IFN-α1, 6, 8, 14, and 23, IFN-ω, and IFN-λ1). Primary source of all subtypes were dendritic cells (DC) | George et al. (3) |
| Pegylated IFN-α | HIV | Treatment with pegIFN-α and ribavirin reduced HIV DNA and increased frequencies of NK cells in HIV-1/HCV-infected patients | Hua et al. (90) |
HIV, human immunodeficiency virus; hMPV, human metapneumovirus; IFN, interferon; MEV, murine encephalomyelitis virus; MuV, mumps virus; TRAIL, TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand.