1Medical Student, All Saints University School of Medicine, Dominica
2Instructor, Department of Microbiology and Immunology, All Saints University School of Medicine, Dominica
3Associate Professor, Department of Anatomical Sciences, Histology and Cell Biology, All Saints University School of Medicine, Dominica
*Corresponding e-mail: gbenrofakoya@gmail.com
Online published on 19 November, 2018.
Interferon is a cellular response to infection, paraneoplastic event, and other biological entities. They are proteinous entities consisting of about 144–166 amino acids transcribed from 20–30 genes. They participate in autophagy and immune response to biological entities when stimulated. Biological or clinical states that affect the proper transcription of interferon genes to either downregulate or upregulate it, usually result in susceptibilities to infections, autoimmune diseases, as well as systemic inflammatory diseases. This review aims to briefly describe the stimulator of the interferon genes (a 379-amino acid protein), how it elicits its cellular homeostatic functions with the sole purpose of enhancing cell survival and reducing morbidities.
Interferon, STING, Immunity, Inflammation, Autoimmune
