Recombinant human IFN-α

Recombinant human interferon-alpha 1, alpha 2b, and alpha 10 (with HSA)

Among the type I interferon (IFN) family, IFN-αs act as important anti-viral cytokines that also have anti-proliferative and immuno-modulatory functions.
InvivoGen offers three recombinant human IFN-α subtypes, which differ in their potency to induce the expression of IFN-stimulated genes (ISG) [1, 2]:

IFN-α signaling

– Recombinant human IFN-α2b: the prototypic IFN-α used in fundamental research and most clinical applications [3, 4]
– Recombinant human IFN-α1: classified as the weakest ISG inducer [5, 6]
– Recombinant human IFN-α10: classified among the top three strongest ISG inducers [5, 6]

 More details

InvivoGen provides a glycosylated recombinant human IFN-α2b, IFN-α1, and IFN-α10 that are produced in CHO cells (as opposed to recombinant IFN-αs produced in non-mammalian cells). Of note, glycosylation stabilizes proteins against physicochemical instabilities.

Key features:

• Produced in CHO cells
• High-quality: purity ≥ 95% and endotoxin level < 1EU/µg
• Functionally tested

Applications:

• Cellular assays
• ELISA

IFN-αs provided by InvivoGen are for research use only.

References:

1. Schreiber G. 2017. The molecular basis for differential type I interferon signaling. J. Biol. Chem. 292:7285-94.
2. Manry J. et al., 2011. Evolutionary genetic dissection of human interferons. J. Exp. Med. 208:2747-59.
3. Paul F. et al., 2015. IFNA2: The prototypic human interferon. Gene. 
4. Antonelli G. et al., 2015. Twenty-five years of type I interferon-based treatment: A critical analysis of its therapeutic use. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev. 26(2):121-31.
5. Moll H.P. et al., 2011. The differential activity of interferon-α subtypes is consistent among distinct target genes and cell types. Cytokines. 53:52-59.
6. Kurunganti S. et al., 2014. Production and characterization of thirteen human type-I interferon-α subtypes. Protein Expr. Purif. 103: 75-83.

Specifications

Recombinant human IFN-Α2b

Source: Mammalian; Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells

Uniprot ID: P01563

Alternate name: IFN-alpha 2

Formulation: Lyophilized from a 0.2 µm filtered phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.4) containing 2% human serum albumin (HSA) and 5% saccharose.

Molecular mass: ~ 21 kDa (SDS-PAGE)

Solubility: 100 μg/ml in water

Quality control:

•    Purity: ≥95% (SDS-PAGE)
•    Endotoxin level: ≤ 1 EU/μg
•    The biological activity has been confirmed using HEK-Blue™ IFN‑α/β cells (see validation data sheet).
•    The units have been determined for each lot using a corresponding calibrated standard.

Recombinant human IFN-α1

Source: Mammalian; Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells

Uniprot ID: P01563

Alternate name: IFN-alpha D

Formulation: Lyophilized from a 0.2 µm filtered phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.4) containing 2% human serum albumin (HSA) and 5% saccharose.

Molecular mass: ~ 21 kDa (SDS-PAGE)

Solubility: 100 μg/ml in water

Quality control:

•    Purity: ≥95% (SDS-PAGE)
•    Endotoxin level: ≤ 1 EU/μg
•    The biological activity has been confirmed using HEK-Blue™ IFN‑α/β cells (see validation data sheet).
•    The units have been determined for each lot using a corresponding calibrated standard.

Recombinant human IFN-α10

Source: Mammalian; Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells

Uniprot ID: P01566

Alternate name: IFN-alpha C

Formulation: Lyophilized from a 0.2 µm filtered phosphate buffer solution (pH 7.4) containing 2% human serum albumin (HSA) and 5% saccharose.

Molecular mass: ~ 22 kDa (SDS-PAGE)

Solubility: 100 μg/ml in water

Quality control:

•    Purity: ≥95% (SDS-PAGE)
•    Endotoxin level: ≤ 1 EU/μg
•    The biological activity has been confirmed using HEK-Blue™ IFN‑α/β cells (see validation data sheet).
•    The units have been determined for each lot using a corresponding calibrated standard.

Contents

Note: Each product is sold separately.

Recombinant human IFN-α2b

• 1 μg of lyophilized recombinant human IFN-α2b.
• 1.5 ml endotoxin-free water.

 Recombinant human IFN-α2b is shipped at room temperature.

 Upon receipt, it should be stored at -20°C.

Recombinant human IFN-α1

• 1 μg of lyophilized recombinant human IFN-α1.
• 1.5 ml endotoxin-free water.

 Recombinant human IFN-α1 is shipped at room temperature.

 Upon receipt, it should be stored at -20°C.

Recombinant human IFN-α10

• 1 μg of lyophilized recombinant human IFN-α10.
• 1.5 ml endotoxin-free water.

 Recombinant human IFN-α10 is shipped at room temperature.

 Upon receipt, it should be stored at -20°C.

Details

The human interferon-alpha family

Type I interferons (IFN) include the IFN-α family, IFN-β, IFN-ε, IFN-κ, and IFN-ω. IFN-αs are important anti-viral cytokines that also have anti-proliferative and immuno-modulatory functions. The human IFN-α family comprises 13 genes encoding 12 proteins, with IFN-α13 being identical to IFN-α1. All IFN-αs bind to a common heterodimer receptor IFNAR1/IFNAR2. The ternary complex signals through the Janus kinase (JAK) and signal transducer and activator of the transcription (STAT) signaling pathway, inducing the formation of the ISGF3 transcriptional complex (STAT1/STAT2/IRF9). ISGF3 binds to IFN-stimulated response elements (ISRE) in the promoter regions of numerous IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) [1].

Human IFN-α genes have evolved under strong selective pressure, suggesting a non-redundant role between IFN-α subtypes [2]. Although most studies have focused on IFN-α2 and IFN-α8, a consensus model for all IFN-αs has emerged depending on the affinity of a particular IFN-α subtype for IFNAR. Low-affinity IFN-α subtypes signal strictly through ISGF3 and induce robust ISGs, such as PKR, ISG56, and IFI16, which display anti-viral functions. Conversely, high-affinity IFN-α subtypes signal through ISGF3 and other factors, which activate “tunable” ISGs” such as CXCL10, IL-8, and ISG15, that induce anti-proliferative and immuno-modulatory functions [3]. IFN-α8, IFN-α10, and IFN-α14 have been identified as the most potent inducers of ISGs, while IFN-α1 is the weakest [4].

Human interferon-alpha 1

Despite being encoded by distinct genes, human IFN-α1 and human IFN‑α13 display identical protein sequences [5]. Human IFN-α1 is induced in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) upon incubation with CpG-oligonucleotides and in plasmacytoid dendritic cells upon incubation with CpG-oligonucleotides or imiquimod [6]. Viral infection of PBMCs with herpes simplex virus (HSV), Newcastle disease virus (NDV), and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) induce high production of IFN-α1 [7]. This subtype of IFN-α is classified as the weakest ISG inducer [4, 5] with the lowest anti-viral activity in vitro against the influenza A virus [5] and hepatitis C virus (HCV)[8]. Similar to IFN-α2 and α-8 subtypes, human IFN-α1 expression occurs early post-infection with Sendai virus in vitro, regardless of the viral multiplicity of infection (MOI), and may deliver a ‘priming’ signal to neighboring cells [9].

Human interferon-alpha 2b

The human interferon α2 (hIFN-α2) was the first highly active IFN subtype to be cloned and available for research. For this reason, hIFN-α2 has been the prototypic IFN-α among all other subtypes of this family used in fundamental research and most clinical applications [10, 11]. Human IFN-α2a and-α2b are allelic variants differing by a neutral lysine to arginine substitution at position 23 of the mature protein, respectively [10, 11]. They are the only IFN-α subtypes with an O-glycosylation site (on Thr106) [11].

Human interferon-alpha 10

Natural human IFN-α10 is induced in peripheral blood mononuclear cells upon incubation with CpG-oligonucleotides and in plasmacytoid dendritic cells upon incubation with CpG-oligonucleotides or imiquimod [6]. This subtype of IFN-α is classified among the top three strongest ISG inducers [4,5] with high anti-viral activity in vitro against human metapneumovirus [12] and hepatitis C virus (HCV) [13]. Human IFN-α10 displays a strong capacity to induce IFIT1, CXCL10, CXCL11, ISG15, and CCL8 [5]. Human IFN-α10 expression is IFN-α receptor-dependent as it is induced by other IFN-α subtypes upon infection with low doses of Sendai virus in vitro [9].

IFN-α subtypes available upon request for a minimum quantity

1. Schreiber G. 2017. The molecular basis for differential type I interferon signaling. J. Biol. Chem. 292:7285-94.
2. Manry J. et al., 2011. Evolutionary genetic dissection of human interferons. J. Exp. Med. 208:2747-59.
3. Levin D. et al., 2014. Multifaceted activities of type I interferon are revealed by a receptor antagonist. Sci. Signal. 7(327). ra50.
4. Kurunganti S. et al., 2014. Production and characterization of thirteen human type-I interferon-α subtypes. Protein Expr. Purif. 103: 75-83.
5. Moll H.P. et al., 2011. The differential activity of interferon-α subtypes is consistent among distinct target genes and cell types. Cytokines. 53:52.
6. Hillyer P. et al., 2012. Expression profiles of human interferon-alpha and interferon-lambda subtypes are ligand- and cell-dependent. Immunol. Cell. Biol. 90(8):774.
7. Löseke S. et al., 2003. Differential expression of IFN-a subtypes in human PBMC: evaluation of novel real-time PCR assays. J. Immunol. Methods. 276(1-2):207.
8. George J. & Mattapallil J.J., 2018. Interferon-α subtypes as an adjunct therapeutic approach for human immunodeficiency virus functional cure. Front. Immunol. 9:999.
9. Zaritsky L.A. et al., 2015. Virus multiplicity of infection affects type I interferon subtype induction profiles and interferon-stimulated genes. J. Virol. 89:11534.
10. Paul F. et al., 2015. IFNA2: The prototypic human interferon. Gene.
11. Antonelli G. et al., 2015. Twenty-five years of type I interferon-based treatment: A critical analysis of its therapeutic use. Cytokine Growth Factor Rev. 26(2):121-31.
12. Scagnolari C. et al., 2011. In vitro sensitivity of human metapneumovirus to type I interferons. Viral Immunol. 24(2):159.
13. Koyama T. et al., 2006. Divergent activities of interferon-alpha subtypes against intracellular hepatitis C virus replication. Hepatol. Res. 34(1):41.