Abstract
Interferons were originally discovered for their ability to interfere with viral replication and were long thought to be primarily antiviral agents. The possibility that they could play a non-antiviral role came first from studies in which it was demonstrated that interferon could enhance the killing of tumor cells by normal lymphocytes both in vitro and in vivo. Initially such studies were carried out with virus induced tumors, where it was shown that interferon preparations could interfere with the process of transformation and the production of tumors by oncogenic viruses (for review see, Gresser and Tovey, 1978). Subsequently such studies were carried out with chemically induced tumors demonstrating the ability of interferon to affect the proliferation of tumor cells with no viral aetiology. However the view that interferon could affect host cell metabolism and function was held with some scepticism due to contaminating substances in interferon preparations. Better purification techniques then became available and it was possible to demonstrate that the purified preparations retained similar activities as the crude material. Using purified preparations, it is now clear from several in vitro and in vivo studies that interferons are capable of affecting a wide range of cell functions which includes their ability to both enhance and inhibit various immune responses (Gresser, 1977; Balkwill, 1979; Gresser, 1980).
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© 1983 Plenum Press, New York
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Vyakarnam, A. (1983). Immunological Actions. In: Sikora, K. (eds) Interferon and Cancer. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1170-6_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4684-1170-6_5
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