# Type I interferons (IFN-α/β)

Type I interferons are your body's first-line antiviral alarm signals. The main ones are IFN-α (many subtypes) and IFN-β. Almost any cell with a nucleus can release them when it detects viral genetic material. The sensors include the cGAS-STING pathway (for stray DNA) and TLR7/TLR9 (for endosomal RNA and DNA). They act through a receptor (IFNAR1/IFNAR2) to switch on hundreds of 'interferon-stimulated genes'. Those put the cell into an antiviral state, fire up NK cells, and bridge innate to adaptive immunity. The problem in aging is low-level, chronic IFN signaling. It is driven by accumulated stray DNA, leaked mitochondrial DNA, and reactivated jumping genes that trip cGAS-STING. That chronic signaling is an important part of inflammaging. The extreme version shows up in rare genetic diseases (SAVI and Singleton-Merten syndrome), where uncontrolled type I IFN damages tissue.

## Sources

- Isaacs A, Lindenmann J. (1957). Virus Interference. I. The Interferon. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.1957.0048
- Trinchieri G. (2010). Type I Interferon: Friend or Foe?. Journal of Experimental Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1084/jem.20101664

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