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Interferon-alfa, interferon-λ and hepatitis C

Nature Genetics volume 41, pages 1048–1050 (2009)Cite this article

Three new studies report genetic variants near IL28B, which encodes interferon-λ3 (interleukin 28B), are associated with response to treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus infection with interferon-alfa/ribavirin combination therapy. This renews interest in how interferons suppress viremia and could lead to improved clinical decisions for chronic HCV infection treatment based on individual genotype.

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Figure 1: The interferon-λ proteins induce the JAK-STAT antiviral pathway by binding to different receptors than interferon-α and interferon-alfa.

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  1. Thomas R. O'Brien is at the Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics, Department of Health and Human Services, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland, USA.,

    Thomas R O'Brien

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  1. Thomas R O'Brien
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Correspondence to Thomas R O'Brien.

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O'Brien, T. Interferon-alfa, interferon-λ and hepatitis C. Nat Genet 41, 1048–1050 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/ng.453

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