Editorial: Type III interferons: Emerging roles beyond antiviral barrier defense

Steeve Boulant (1) , Adriana Forero (2, 3) , Deanna M Santer (4) , Achille Broggi (5)

1 UF - University of Florida [Gainesville]
2 College of Medicine, The Ohio State University
3 The James Comprehensive Cancer Center, The Ohio State University
4 University of Manitoba [Winnipeg]
5 CIML - Centre d'Immunologie de Marseille - Luminy

Type III interferons or IFN-λs, are composed of 4 members: IFN-λ1, IFN-λ2, IFN-λ3, and IFN-λ4. IFN-λs are master protectors against mucosal viral infections due to the preferential expression of their cognate receptor, IFNLR1, to cells of epithelial lineage and to a restricted pool of immune cells. IFN-λ receptor activation induces intracellular signaling that overlaps with that of type I interferons (IFN-I) and culminates with the induction of Interferon-Stimulated-Genes (ISG) with antiviral functions. However, several studies have uncovered non-redundant functions of IFN-λs, compared to IFN-I, that go beyond viral restriction at epithelial barriers. In this topic, we highlighted several emerging aspects of IFN-λ biology, including: their ability to restrict non-viral infections, the mechanisms by which they modulate immune responses, and the enigmatic role of human IFN-λ4.

Keywords: interferon; IFN-lambda; antiviral; IBD; infection; mucosae; IFN-l4; vaccine

Domains: Life Sciences [q-bio]

Steeve Boulant, Adriana Forero, Deanna M Santer, Achille Broggi. Editorial: Type III interferons: Emerging roles beyond antiviral barrier defense. Frontiers in Immunology, 2022, 13, ⟨10.3389/fimmu.2022.1030812⟩. ⟨hal-03959920⟩