Description
Proteins of this family play an important role in inducing non-specific resistance against a broad range of viral infections. They also affect cell proliferation and modulate immune responses. Produced by peripheral blood leukocytes and lymphoblastoid cells, IFNα is an acid stable molecule that signals through IFNα/βR, which is also used by IFNβ. Both IFNs have similar anti-viral activity and regulate expression of MHC class I antigens. IFNα contains four highly conserved cysteine residues which form two disulfide bonds, one of which is necessary for biological activity. Recombinant human IFNβ is an 20.0 kDa protein containing 166 amino acid residues. Due to glycosylation, IFNβ has an approximate MW of 22.3 kDa based on SDS-PAGE gel and Mass Spectrometry