Skip to main content
An official website of the United States government
Government Funding Lapse
Because of a lapse in government funding, the information on this website may not be up to date, transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted.

The NIH Clinical Center (the research hospital of NIH) is open. For more details about its operating status, please visit cc.nih.gov.

Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at opm.gov.

recombinant interferon alfa

A class of naturally-isolated or recombinant therapeutic peptides used as antiviral and anti-tumor agents. Alpha interferons are cytokines produced by nucleated cells (predominantly natural killer (NK) leukocytes) upon exposure to live or inactivated virus, double-stranded RNA or bacterial products. These agents bind to specific cell-surface receptors, resulting in the transcription and translation of genes containing an interferon-specific response element. The proteins so produced mediate many complex effects, including antiviral effects (viral protein synthesis); antiproliferative effects (cellular growth inhibition and alteration of cellular differentiation); anticancer effects (interference with oncogene expression); and immune-modulating effects (natural killer cell activation, alteration of cell surface antigen expression, and augmentation of lymphocyte and macrophage cytotoxicity).
Check for active clinical trials using this agentView this agent in the NCI Thesaurus
Synonym:alpha interferon
leukocyte interferon
lymphoblast interferon
lymphoblastoid interferon
US brand name:Alferon
Search NCI's Drug Dictionary
Please enter up to 30 characters for your search