CUSABIO’s Human Interferon α (IFN-α) ELISA Kit can be used to quantitatively measure the levels of IFN-α in various biological solutions, including serum, plasma, cell culture supernates, urine, and tissue homogenates. The assay uses the sandwich ELISA mechanism in combination with the chromogenic reaction to complete the detection. The solution color develops in proportion to the IFN-α contents in the sample, and the color intensity can be measured at 450 nm via a microplate reader. The kit is featured with high sensitivity, excellent specificity, the precision of less than 10%, high recovery, good linearity, and high consistency between batches.
The IFN-α belongs to the type I IFNs family and it is predominantly involved in innate immunity. IFN-α is secreted by immune (lymphocytes, NK cells, B-cells, T-cells, and macrophages) and non-immune cells (fibroblasts, endothelial cells, osteoblasts, and others) in response to the viral infection. IFN-α signals through the interaction with its receptor IFNAR, inducing the activation of the JAK and STAT signaling pathway and thus leading to the expression of related genes. These gene products exert anti-viral, anti-proliferative, anti-tumor, or immunomodulatory effects. In addition to its direct anti-viral effects, IFN-α can strongly regulate innate and adaptive immune responses in the host. It enhances the proliferation, cytotoxicity, and IFN-γ secretion of NK cells. It also up-regulates the expression of major histocompatibility complexes class I and II on antigen-presenting cells and promotes cross-presentation of viral antigens to CD8+ T-cells by DCs, which enhances adaptive immune responses.