Interferon (IFN) has slipped off the hepatology radar in recent years, but a study by Borst and
colleagues in this issue of Journal of Hepatology, reminds us that IFN signalling is an
integral component of the liver's highly coordinated response to viral infection and tissue
injury. Despite 60 years of research since Isaacs and Lindenmann's discovery, several
effects of type I IFNs remain unclear. Many different forms of IFNa are produced
predominantly by specialized innate immune cells, such as plasmacytoid dendritic cells …