title: Inborn errors of anti-viral interferon immunity in humans.
abstract: The three types of interferon (IFNs) are essential for immunity against at least some viruses in the mouse model of experimental infections, type I IFNs displaying the broadest and strongest anti-viral activity. Consistently, human genetic studies have shown that type II IFN is largely redundant for immunity against viruses in the course of natural infections. The precise contributions of human type I and III IFNs remain undefined. However, various inborn errors of anti-viral IFN immunity have been described, which can result in either broad or narrow immunological and viral phenotypes. The broad disorders impair the response to (STAT1, TYK2) or the production of at least type I and type III IFNs following multiple stimuli (NEMO), resulting in multiple viral infections at various sites, including herpes simplex encephalitis (HSE). The narrow disorders impair exclusively (TLR3) or mostly (UNC-93B, TRIF, TRAF3) the TLR3-dependent induction of type I and III IFNs, leading to HSE in apparently otherwise healthy individuals. These recent discoveries highlight the importance of human type I and III IFNs in protective immunity against viruses, including the TLR3-IFN pathway in protection against HSE.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Human Genetics of Infectious Diseases, Necker Branch, Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale, U980, Necker Medical School, Paris 75015, France.
authors.forename: Vanessa
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Sancho-Shimizu
authors.forename: Rebeca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Perez de Diego
authors.forename: Emmanuelle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jouanguy
authors.forename: Shen-Ying
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jean-Laurent
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Casanova
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020803:Encephalitis, Herpes Simplex / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D018259:Herpesvirus 1, Human / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007372:Interferons / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*
chemical_list: D007372:Interferons