Defining Lytic IFNγ for Deciphering the CTL Mechanism

Abstract

Since the discovery of the “viral interference factor” by Isaacs and Lindenmann in 1957, and its subsequent identification as an antiviral substance in phytohemagglutinin (PHA)-treated human leukocytes by Wheelock in 1965, Interferon-gamma (IFNγ) has been a focal point of immunological research. Following the elucidation of the JAK-STAT pathway in the 1990s, the role of IFNγ in tumor elimination and adaptive immunity became indisputable. Yet, despite decades of research, the mechanisms by which IFNγ functions within the highly specialized Cytotoxic T Lymphocyte (CTL) killing machinery remain incompletely understood.