The mammalian innate immune system provides an important first line of defense against a variety of pathogens such as viruses, bacteria and fungi. A key component of mammalian innate immunity against viruses is a family of cytokines called the interferons (IFNs, so called because they ‘interfere’ with virus replication). The IFNs are classified into two groups, type I and type II. Type I (α/β) IFNs are produced by most cell types and respond to viral infection, whereas type II IFN (called IFN-γ) is made by a select subset of immune system cells and is not virus inducible.
Our laboratory is interested in the mechanisms by which the IFNs exert their anti-viral and anti-proliferative effects. The IFNs mediate their activities via the induction of several hundred genes, many of which are of unknown function. A primary interest of this laboratory is to characterize such genes functionally. Additonally, we have recently identified a novel pathway by which the IFNs induce cell death and are currently elucidating this mechanism.