Interferon Induced with Helicase C Domain 1 (IFIH1) and Virus-Induced Autoimmunity: A Review

In addition to genetic factors, environmental triggers, including viruses and other pathogens, are thought to play a major role in the development of autoimmune disease. Recent findings have shown that viral-induced autoimmunity is likely to be genetically determined. In large-scale genetic analyses, an association of interferon induced with helicase C domain 1 (IFIH1) gene variants encoding a viral RNA-sensing helicase with susceptibility to several autoimmune diseases was found. To date, the precise role of IFIH1 in pathogenic mechanisms of viral-induced autoimmunity has yet to be fully elucidated. However, recent reports suggest that IFIH1 may play a role in the etiology of type 1 diabetes. Rare IFIH1 alleles have been shown to be protective against diabetes, and their carriage correlates with lower production of this helicase and its functional disruption. In contrast, upregulation of IFIH1 expression by viruses is associated with more severe disease, and could exacerbate the autoimmune process in susceptible individuals.