title: Unraveling the convoluted biological roles of type I interferons in infection and immunity: a way forward for therapeutics and vaccine design.
abstract: It has been well-established that type I interferons (IFN-Is) have pleiotropic effects and play an early central role in the control of many acute viral infections. However, their pleiotropic effects are not always beneficial to the host and in fact several reports suggest that the induction of IFN-Is exacerbate disease outcomes against some bacterial and chronic viral infections. In this brief review, we probe into this mystery and try to develop answers based on past and recent studies evaluating the roles of IFN-Is in infection and immunity as this is vital for developing effective IFN-Is based therapeutics and vaccines. We also discuss the biological roles of an emerging IFN-I, namely IFN-ε, and discuss its potential use as a mucosal therapeutic and/or vaccine adjuvant. Overall, we anticipate the discussions generated in this review will provide new insights for better exploiting the biological functions of IFN-Is in developing efficacious therapeutics and vaccines in the future.
authors.affiliation: Virology Laboratory, Department of Surgery, Basil Hetzel Institute, University of Adelaide , Adelaide, SA , Australia ; Molecular Mucosal Vaccine Immunology Group, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University , Canberra, ACT , Australia.
authors.forename: Danushka Kumara
authors.initials: DK
authors.lastname: Wijesundara
authors.affiliation: Lung and Allergy Research Centre, Translational Research Institute, UQ School of Medicine, The University of Queensland , Woolloongabba, QLD , Australia.
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Xi
authors.affiliation: Molecular Mucosal Vaccine Immunology Group, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University , Canberra, ACT , Australia.
authors.forename: Charani
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ranasinghe
keywords: IFN-ε; human immunodeficiency virus; interferon immunity; type I interferons; vaccine adjuvants