THE MOLECULAR CELL BIOLOGY OF INTERFERON-GAMMA AND ITS RECEPTOR

The last ten years have seen an explosive growth in our understanding of IFNgamma. The cloning of the cDNAs for IFNgamma and its receptor have made available large amounts of highly purified recombinant IFNgamma and soluble IFNgamma receptor. In addition, highly specific neutralizing monoclonal antibodies have been generated to both of these proteins. Using these reagents, IFNgamma and the IFNgamma receptor have been characterized on a molecular basis. Structure-function studies carried out on these proteins have identified key molecular regions that are required for biologic activity. Moreover, a great deal is now known concerning the physiologic role that IFNgamma plays in vivo. In this review we focus on the new developments in the areas of IFNgamma biochemistry and biology and pay particular attention to the IFNgamma receptor and three aspects of IFNgamma biology that are of special interest to immunologists: host defense, inflammation, and autoimmunity.