Interferon alpha 1 (IFNA1) belongs to the type 1 interferon family of cytokines, which bind interferon alpha receptors (IFNAR; composed of IFNAR1 and IFNAR2 subunits) that are involved in interferon-induced JAK-STAT signaling (Shemesh et al.). Interferons have inhibitory effects on viral replication and pathogenesis, and studies have found that IFN alpha can prevent the spread of herpes simplex virus (HSV) (Mikloska and Cunningham), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (George and Mattapallil). Pegylated forms of IFN alpha are currently approved for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (Woo et al.). IFN alpha also displays anti-tumor effects by regulating cell growth and proliferation, and it is used in the treatment of different cancers (Tagliaferri et al.). Interferons display alpha-helical structures with four helices forming an antiparallel alpha-helix bundle (Walter). This protein contains a His-residue tag at the carboxyl end of the polypeptide chain. For consistency and reproducibility across your applications, interferon alpha 1 from STEMCELL comes lyophilized with ≥ 90% purity, specific activity EC50 ≤ 40-200 pg/mL, and LAL analysis verification ensuring endotoxin levels are ≤ 1.0 EU/μg protein.