The IRF Family Transcription Factors at the Interface of Innate and Adaptive Immune Responses

Abstract

The interferon-regulatory factor (IRF) family, originally identified as transcriptional regulators of the type I interferon system, consists of nine members in mammals. A large number of studies have revealed the versatile and critical functions performed by this transcription factor family in immunity and other biological processes. Most notably, the advances in the study of signal transducing innate immune receptors have placed many IRF members as central mediators in the regulation of innate immune responses. In parallel, mechanistic studies have made it clearer that many IRFs exert their function either in cooperation or competition with other factors. In this article, we discuss current advances on the multipurpose and critical functions of IRFs in the regulation of innate immunity, particularly as they instruct adaptive immunity.

Cutting Edge: Synchronization of IRF1, JunB, and C/EBPβ Activities during TLR3–TLR7 Cross-Talk Orchestrates Timely Cytokine Synergy in the Proinflammatory Response

“…Although IRF1 is known to be strongly induced in macrophages by IFN-g, the detailed functional role and the mecha- nisms of IRF1 in regulating immune responses are poorly understood (19). IRF1 plays a major role in the transcriptional regulation of Il12a but not Il12b (20), although an IRF1-binding element was characterized in the Il12b promoter (21).…”

Interferon Regulatory Factor Signalings in Cardiometabolic Diseases

“…51 Substantial previous studies indicated that TLRs recognize pathogen-associated molecular patterns derived from various microbes in response to infections. 184,185 Apart from the exogenous molecules, TLR ligands have been found including a much broader range of endogenous components, eg, lipopolysaccharide, HMGB1, danger-associated molecular patterns, heat shock proteins, and lipopeptides, which are released from injured/ inflamed tissues and dying cells.…”

Deep sequencing of the mouse lung transcriptome reveals distinct long non-coding RNAs expression associated with the high virulence of H5N1 avian influenza virus in mice

“…A large number of studies have revealed the versatile and critical functions performed by IRF family in innate immunity [56–58], adaptive immunity [57] and many other biological processes, such as immune cell development [56,58], regulation of gene expression in response to pathogen infection [56,59,60],regulation of the cell cycle [61,62] and apoptosis [63,64]. The MAF is a family of transcription factor protein that belongs to the activated protein-1 super-family of transcription factors.…”