IFNA1 and viral infectious disease: The RNA helicases RIG-I (retinoic acid-inducible gene 1) and MDA-5 (melanoma differentiation-associated protein 5) are known to initiate signaling pathways culminating in the production of type I interferons (IFN-α, IFN-β, IFN-ε, IFN-κ) and proinflammatory cytokines during the early stages of viral infections (39).