Skip main navigation

New offer! Get 30% off one whole year of Unlimited learning. Subscribe for just £249.99 £174.99. New subscribers only T&Cs apply

Find out more
Home / Healthcare & Medicine / Biology & Biotechnology / Pharmacotherapy: Understanding Biotechnology Products / Interferons

Interferons

video
View transcript
14.2
Interferons, move on to the next therapeutic class. Now interferons belong to cytokine. It is a kind of cytokine. And there are glycoproteins which signal immune cells to mediate and regulate the immune response. Okay. Now why they are called interferon? Because of their ability to interfere with viral replication within the host cells and that’s why they’re called interferon. So during the infection, interferon cause symptoms such as aching muscle and fever. Interferons also increase the recognition of infected cells. That is the signal that they are being attacked. Interferons also raised the ability of uninfected cells to resist new infection. And this graph explains briefly how interferons work. So here is the infected cell. The infected cell would secrete interferon.
104
And the interferon will tell the uninfected cell to induce interferon gene that would moderate the immune function or build up the defense system or to stop the virus from replicating themselves. And that’s how interferons work.
129
There are three types of the interferons: Type I also called interferons alpha and the beta; Type II, interferon gamma, and type III, interferon lambda. Now each class acts through different cell receptors. Interferons were very expensive until 1980 when the gene or the interfering gene was discovered. And after that, recombinant DNA technology was used to allow mass cultivation and production from the bacterial cultures. Uses of interferons, now interferons exhibit multiple modes of functions, relating to cell growth antiviral activities, and immunological response. There are typically approved and they’re labeled for specific conditions, just like small molecules. Interferon alpha is used for cancer and a viral infection Interferon beta is used for multiple sclerosis. An interfering gamma is for treating a hereditary disease.
215.4
It’s called chronic granlomatous disease. Let’s look at some interferon products and their indications. Okay, interferon alpha-2a and interferon alpha-2b. Both are indicated for leukemia composes sarcoma. Interferon alpha-2b with ribavarin, now ribavarin is an anti-metabolite, or the interferon alphacon-I and both are indicated for hepatitis c. The third subclass interferon alpha-n3, is indicated for Genital and perianal warts. Again, it’s a virus infection by human papilloma virus. Continue with more interferon products and indications. Pegylated interferon alpha-2b, pegylated interferon alpha-2a, pegylated interferon alpha-2a with ribavarin. They are all indicated for chronic hepatitis C.
306.1
And as you have noticed, pegylation prolongs the half-life of interferon substantially almost 10 times, and therefore, the percolated interference can be given once weekly versus three times a week for the standard form. Interferon beta and gamma. Now interferon beta-1b, beta-1a and the beta-1a but pegylated, they are all indicated for multiple sclerosis. Interferon gamma-1b marketed by ACTIMMUNE, a biotechnology company. It’s indicated for hereditary disease such as a chronic granulomatous disease, and other severe malignant osteoporosis. The packages. Roferon and the Betaseron . And you can kind of tell, betaseron by the name that it is interferon beta.

Interferons are a group of signaling proteins made and released by host cells as a defensive response to virus infection. In a typical scenario, a virus-infected cell will release interferons causing nearby cells to heighten their anti-viral defenses to inhibit viral replication. Currently, several anti-TNF biosimilars are available for use in patients with psoriasis. Because of its broad spectrum of applications, innovative interferon products and biosimilar or biobetter versions will continue to emerge.

A sketch is presented to illustrate the mechanism by which interferons fend off virus infection. Three types of interferons are introduced, Type I (alpha and beta), Type II (gamma) and Type III (lamda). They are indicated for a wide spectrum of disease conditions, including cancer, viral infection (hepatitis) and muscular-skeletal disorder (multiple sclerosis). Two original interferon products are included, Roferon (interferon alfa-2a), and Betaseron (interferon beta-1b). There are numerous approved interferon alfa and interferon beta products worldwide, and a good number of biobetters are in the development pipeline.

Want to keep learning?

This content is taken from Taipei Medical University online course
Pharmacotherapy: Understanding Biotechnology Products
View Course
See other articles from this course
This article is from the online course:

Pharmacotherapy: Understanding Biotechnology Products

Created by
Join Now
This article is from the free online

Pharmacotherapy: Understanding Biotechnology Products

Created by
Join Now
FutureLearn - Learning For Life

Reach your personal and professional goals

Unlock access to hundreds of expert online courses and degrees from top universities and educators to gain accredited qualifications and professional CV-building certificates.

Join over 18 million learners to launch, switch or build upon your career, all at your own pace, across a wide range of topic areas.

Start Learning now

Register to receive updates

  • Create an account to receive our newsletter, course recommendations and promotions.

    Register for free