Type I Interferon in Malaria: A Balancing Act.

Type I interferons (IFN-Is) can now be considered as the wedge that balances clinical protection to malaria. New studies recently highlighted a central role for IFN-Is in orchestrating an immunoregulatory network leading to the dampening of proinflammatory responses, expansion of type 1 regulatory (Tr1) cells, and restriction of humoral immunity during malaria blood stage infection. Plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) were identified as the major source of IFN-Is. Here, we integrate the findings and provide a model for the mechanisms involved.