Lead researcher
This research was led by Dr Carl Feng, University of Sydney
Main finding
The main finding was that a single-nucleotide polymorphism found in the human IFNAR1 gene is associated with decreased susceptibility to tuberculosis and an increased risk of viral hepatitis in Chinese populations. This study therefore revealed the detrimental effect of IFN signaling in tuberculosis susceptibility. The work was a collaborative project between researchers at The Hudson Institute of Medical Research, four Medical Research Hospitals in China, The Centenary Institute, NSW and The University of Sydney.
Centre
Centre for Innate Immunity & Infectious Diseases
Research group
Interferon Structure and Function
Journal and article title
Most surprising
The study revealed for the first time the detrimental effect of IFN signaling in the human response to tuberculosis.
Future implications
Our research reveals that it may be beneficial to target IFN signaling in humans to reduce tuberculosis susceptibility.
Disease/health impact
Tuberculosis, IFN signaling