Open AccessIdentification of Interleukin1β as an Amplifier of Interferon alpha-induced Antiviral Responses
Author(s) -
Katharina Robichon,
Thomas Maiwald,
Marcel Schilling,
Annette Schneider,
Joschka Willemsen,
Florian Salopiata,
Melissa Teusel,
Clemens Kreutz,
Christian Ehlting,
Jun Huang,
Sajib Chakraborty,
Xiaoyun Huang,
Georg Damm,
Daniel Seehofer,
Philipp A. Lang,
Johannes G. Bode,
Marco Binder,
Ralf Bartenschlager,
Jens Timmer,
Ursula Klingmüller
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
plos pathogens
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.719
H-Index - 206
eISSN - 1553-7374
pISSN - 1553-7366
DOI - 10.1371/journal.ppat.1008461
Subject(s) - biology , interferon , alpha interferon , gene , viral replication , gene expression , interferon regulatory factors , psychological repression , regulation of gene expression , virology , transcription factor , microbiology and biotechnology , virus , genetics
The induction of an interferon-mediated response is the first line of defense against pathogens such as viruses. Yet, the dynamics and extent of interferon alpha (IFNα)-induced antiviral genes vary remarkably and comprise three expression clusters: early, intermediate and late. By mathematical modeling based on time-resolved quantitative data, we identified mRNA stability as well as a negative regulatory loop as key mechanisms endogenously controlling the expression dynamics of IFNα-induced antiviral genes in hepatocytes. Guided by the mathematical model, we uncovered that this regulatory loop is mediated by the transcription factor IRF2 and showed that knock-down of IRF2 results in enhanced expression of early, intermediate and late IFNα-induced antiviral genes. Co-stimulation experiments with different pro-inflammatory cytokines revealed that this amplified expression dynamics of the early, intermediate and late IFNα-induced antiviral genes can also be achieved by co-application of IFNα and interleukin1 beta (IL1β). Consistently, we found that IL1β enhances IFNα-mediated repression of viral replication. Conversely, we observed that in IL1β receptor knock-out mice replication of viruses sensitive to IFNα is increased. Thus, IL1β is capable to potentiate IFNα-induced antiviral responses and could be exploited to improve antiviral therapies.