Year: 2016
Type: review
Abstract: Defense against bacterial infections requires activation of the immune response as well as timely reestablishment of tissue and immune homeostasis. Instauration of homeostasis is critical for tissue regeneration, wound healing, and host recovery. Recent studies revealed that severe infectious diseases frequently result from failures in homeostatic processes rather than from inefficient pathogen eradication. Type I interferons (IFN) appear to play a key role in such processes. Remarkably, the involvement of type I IFNs in the regulation of immune and tissue homeostasis upon bacterial insult may have beneficial or detrimental consequences for the host. The reasons for such ambivalent function of type I IFNs are not understood. The disparate effects of type I IFNs on bacterial infections are in marked contrast to their well-established protective roles in most viral infections. In this review, we will focus on type I IFN effector mechanisms which balance processes involved in immune and tissue homeostasis during specific bacterial infections and highlight the most important missing links in our understanding of type I IFN functions.
Source: Frontiers in Immunology
Institutions: University of Vienna, Max Perutz Labs
Language: English
Subfield: Immunology
Field: Immunology and Microbiology
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $2,587
Awards: G1457729934, G246449967, Type I interferons in infection with Streptococcus pyogenes, Infection biology training network: shaping the future of infectious diseases treatments, G4626508987, G477545440, G7401113806, Haploid genetics and genome editing in immune responses to GAS (Group A Streptococci)
OpenAlex ID: W2565679751