Author: Gianpiero Pescarmona Date: 08/03/2011
Interferon gamma is a dimerized soluble cytokine that is the only member of the type II class of interferons. The existence of this interferon, which early in its history was known as immune interferon, was described by E. F. Wheelock as a product of human leukocytes stimulated with phytohemagglutinin, and by others as a product of antigen-stimulated lymphocytes or tuberculin-sensitized mouse peritoneal lymphocytes challenged with PPD; the resulting supernatants were shown to inhibit growth of vesicular stomatitis virus. Those reports also contained the basic observation underlying the now widely employed interferon gamma release assay used to test for tuberculosis. In humans, the IFNγ protein is encoded by the IFNG gene
When relevant for the function
mRNA synthesis protein synthesis
post-translational modifications degradation
cellular localization, biological function
IFNG and MHC-1
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