Healthy tissues of the body express relatively low basal levels of interferons. However, following detection of microbial invasion by sentinel receptors, a cascade of events initiates leading to the transcriptional induction of interferon genes. Interferons are secreted and act primarily as paracrine cytokines to bind neighboring cell surface receptors. Binding to interferon receptors activates a signal pathway to the nucleus inducing a set of interferon-stimulated genes. The biological activity of these genes confers the unique antiviral and innate immune response of interferons. The rapid induction of interferons is critical to survival, and equally critical is the recovery from this defensive state. Either an aberrant response to infection or an inherited genetic disorder that leads to sustained or increased interferon levels can tip the balance towards pathogenesis.

身体的健康组织表达较低水平的干扰素。但是，在检测到前哨受体对微生物的入侵后，一系列事件开始引发干扰素基因的转录诱导。干扰素是分泌的，主要起旁分泌细胞因子的作用，以结合邻近的细胞表面受体。与干扰素受体的结合激活了到细胞核的信号通路，从而诱导了一组干扰素刺激的基因。这些基因的生物活性赋予干扰素独特的抗病毒和先天免疫应答。快速诱导干扰素对生存至关重要，而同样重要的是从这种防御状态中恢复。