Abstract
In 1957, two scientists working at the National Institute of Medical Research in London discovered that virus-infected cells became resistant to secondary infection. Drs. Alick Isaacs and Jean Lindenmann found that influenza virus-infected chick embryo cells released a substance that conferred on cells of the same species resistance to a wide range of viruses. This substance was named interferon and is now known to be secreted in small amounts by most vertebrate cells when they are appropriately stimulated. Interferon was originally described as a glycoprotein containing about 150 amino acids. It is now known that several types of interferon exist with differing amino-acid composition and varying amounts of carbohydrate.
Keywords
- Renal Cell Carcinoma
- Mycosis Fungoides
- Malignant Pleural Effusion
- Hairy Cell Leukaemia
- Chronic Myelomonocytic Leukaemia
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© 1991 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
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Woll, P.J., Crowther, D. (1991). The Interferons: Their Properties and Clinical Role — An Overview. In: Crowther, D. (eds) Interferons: Mechanisms of Action and Role in Cancer Therapy. ESO Monographs. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76787-6_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76787-6_2
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