Interferon: Effects On The Immune Response And The Mechanism Of Activation Of The Cellular Respons

Abstract
The discovery of interferon in 1957 by Drs. Alick Isaacs and Jean Lindenmann led to major revisions in the concepts of man's defenses against viral infections. Interferons are well known as inhibitors of virus replication. This inhibition is accomplished by acting on the host cell rather than on the virus (Figure 1). The proposed biological mediator of the antiviral action of interferon is not interferon, but an antiviral protein, which is produced by a cell after that cell has come into contact with interferon.