A Novel Interferon Regulatory Factor (IRF), IRF-10, Has a Unique Role in Immune Defense and Is Induced by the v-Rel Oncoprotein

Abstract

The cloning and functional characterization of a novel interferon regulatory factor (IRF), IRF-10, are described. IRF-10 is most closely related to IRF-4 but differs in both its constitutive and inducible expression.

Interferon regulatory factor 10 (IRF10): Cloning in orange spotted grouper, Epinephelus coioides, and evolutionary analysis in vertebrates

“…As reported in our previous study [26], IRF10 gene was identified in this study in all other major groups of vertebrates, except in most primate and rodent species in which IRF10 appears only as a pseudogene or is overlapped with the downstream DUSP15 gene [25,26], although more genomic sequences of vertebrates have been released and searched (see Supplemental Table 1 and [26]). To our surprise, a transcript encoding IRF10 was found in O. garnettii genome database.…”

“…Furthermore, Euarchontoglires have a rather conserved gene synteny, as observed in genomic regions flanking the IRF10 gene in chicken and frog, implying that IRF10 genes might have been lost during the evolution in primates and rodents, but the origin of IRF10 might have occurred at least prior to the divergence of teleost and tetrapod lineage. On the other hand, it is reported that IRF10 has an important role in host defense in fish and birds [25,27,28]. The absence of IRF10 in some mammalian species may reflect the redundancy of its function or the compensation by other genes during evolution.…”

“…However, the presence of IRF10 in most groups of vertebrates may also imply the evolution of functional uniqueness. For example, IRF10 in chicken (Gallus gallus), in spite of its high sequence similarity with fish IRF10, can actually up-regulate the expression of MHC class I in fibroblasts and prolong the induction of guanylate-binding protein after being exposed to type I IFN [25]; while IRF10 in zebrafish cannot induce the transcription of major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC I) in poly(I:C) or spring viraemia of carp virus (SVCV) stimulated epithelioma papulosum cyprini (EPC) cells [28]. It may be important to characterize comparatively the function of IRF10 in different lineages of vertebrates.…”

“…In birds, an additional IRF, IRF10, has been identified with the structure most closely related to IRF4 [25]. However, the expression pattern of bird IRF10 is different from its closest relative, and this IRF may be involved in later stages of antiviral responses in birds [25].…”

“…In birds, an additional IRF, IRF10, has been identified with the structure most closely related to IRF4 [25]. However, the expression pattern of bird IRF10 is different from its closest relative, and this IRF may be involved in later stages of antiviral responses in birds [25]. In our previous study, IRF10 has been identified in genomes of a wide range of vertebrates, from mammals to teleosts, except in human (Homo sapiens) and mouse (Mus musculus) [26].…”