“…In addition, all IRFs, with the exception of IRF-1 and IRF-2, contain an IRF association domain (IAD) at the carboxyl terminus which mediated their interactions with other proteins to form transcriptional complexes [8]. According to the differences in the C-terminus of IRFs, IRFs can be divided into three groups: transcriptional activators (e.g., IRF-1, IRF-3, IRF-7 and IRF-9), repressors (e.g., IRF-2 and IRF-8) and multifunctional ones that both activate and repress gene transcription (e.g., IRF-2, IRF-4, IRF-5 and IRF-8) [9,10]. As important regulatory factors, IRFs are believed to play critical roles in antiviral responses, cell growth regulation, lymphocyte development, apoptosis and oncogenesis [6,11e13].…”