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Involvement of the IRF family transcription factor IRF‐3 in virus‐induced activation of the IFN‐β gene
Author(s) -
Sato Mitsuharu,
Tanaka Nobuyuki,
Hata Naoki,
Oda Eri,
Taniguchi Tadatsugu
Publication year - 1998
Publication title -
febs letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.593
H-Index - 257
eISSN - 1873-3468
pISSN - 0014-5793
DOI - 10.1016/s0014-5793(98)00210-5
Subject(s) - enhancer , irf1 , transcription factor , interferon regulatory factors , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , transcription (linguistics) , interferon , promoter , virus , gene , taf2 , gene expression , virology , genetics , linguistics , philosophy
The virus‐induced activation of interferon α/β ( IFN‐α/β ) gene transcription is essential for host defense. The IFN‐β promoter is controlled primarily by the virus‐inducible enhancer elements, the IRF‐Es. Here we show that IRF‐3, an IRF family transcription factor, translocates to the nucleus from the cytoplasm upon virus infection in NIH/3T3 cells. The nuclear IRF‐3 is phosphorylated, interacts with the co‐activators CBP/p300, and binds specifically to the IFN‐β IRF‐E. Furthermore, overexpression of IRF‐3 causes a marked increase in virus‐induced IFN‐β mRNA expression. Thus, IRF‐3 is a candidate transcription factor mediating the activation of the IFN‐β gene.