| Interferon-gamma (IFNG), or type II interferon, is a cytokine critical for innate and adaptive immunity against viral and intracellular bacterial infections and for tumor control. Aberrant IFNG expression is associated with a number of autoinflammatory and autoimmune diseases. The importance of IFNG in the immune system stems in part from its ability to inhibit viral replication directly, but most importantly derives from its immunostimulatory and immunomodulatory effects. IFNG is produced predominantly by natural killer (NK) and natural killer T (NKT) cells as part of the innate immune response, and by CD4 and CD8 cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) effector T cells once antigen-specific immunity develops. |
