A Possible Anticancer Agent, Type III Interferon, Activates Cell Death Pathways and Produces Antitumor Effects
Recently identified interleukin-28 and -29 belong to a novel type III interferon (IFN) family, which could have distinct biological properties from type I and II IFNs. Type I IFNs, IFN-α/β, have been clinically applied for treating a certain kind of malignancies for over 30 years, but a wide range o...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Hindawi Limited
2011-01-01
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| Series: | Clinical and Developmental Immunology |
| Online Access: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2011/479013 |
| Summary: | Recently identified interleukin-28 and -29 belong to a novel type III interferon (IFN) family, which could have distinct biological properties from type I and II IFNs. Type I IFNs, IFN-α/β, have been clinically applied for treating a certain kind of malignancies for over 30 years, but a wide range of the adverse effects hampered the further clinical applications. Type III IFNs, IFN-λs, have similar signaling pathways as IFN-α/β and inhibits proliferation of tumor cells through cell cycle arrest or apoptosis. Restricted patterns of type III IFN receptor expression in contrast to ubiquitously expressed IFN-α/β receptors suggest that type III IFNs have limited cytotoxicity to normal cells and can be a possible anticancer agent. In this paper, we summarize the current knowledge on the IFN-λs-mediated tumor cell death and discuss the functional difference between type I and III IFNs. |
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| ISSN: | 1740-2522 1740-2530 |