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The IRF9 protein has been identified as fundamental in the control of viral infections in humans.
A, Family tree of the IRF9-deficient patients. Circles, Female subjects; squares, male subject; triangles, spontaneous miscarriage; black figures, affected subjects; gray figures, suspected affected subjects; black/white figures, healthy carriers. B, Relative expression of the indicated genes in untreated and IFN-β–treated macrophages from patient II.2 (IRF9−/−) and healthy donors (father; IRF9+/−). B, Production of CXCL10 by IFN-β–stimulated macrophages (18 hours) derived from a healthy father (IRF9+/−) and patient II.2 (IRF9−/−). D, Production of TNF by LPS-stimulated macrophages from indicated donors treated for 18 hours. [Adapted from J. Allergy Clin. Immunol]
11 Sep 2019
The IRF9 protein has been identified as fundamental in the control of viral infections in humans

A work recently published in the journal J. Allergy Clin. Immunol with the collaboration of Dr. Ángeles Domínguez Soto and Miriam Simón Fuentes, both working in the Myeloid Cell Biology group at the Center for Biological Research, shows that the interferon regulatory factor 9 (IRF9) is key to the control of viral infections in humans.

In this research, identification and study of several patients of the same family with serious deficiencies in the IRF9 protein has been carried out. In addition to the affectation of the fibroblasts of the patients, their macrophages deficient in IRF9 and their response to interferon are studied, since these cells of the innate immune system play a fundamental role in the defense and control of viral infections.
The CIB group was able to determine that the absence of IRF9 in macrophages caused a deficiency in the response to interferon, but this was not the case against other inflammatory stimuli, such as bacterial derivatives, which justifies the high susceptibility of these patients to viral infections.

This work is the result of a collaboration with the Hospital Universitario de la Paz, IdiPaz, the National Center for Biotechnology and the Central University of Venezuela.

 

Reference: Impaired control of multiple viral infections in a family with complete IRF9 deficiency. Bravo García-Morato M, Calvo Apalategi A, Bravo-Gallego LY, Blázquez Moreno A, Simón-Fuentes M, Garmendia JV, Méndez Echevarría A, Del Rosal Rabes T, Domínguez-Soto Á, López-Granados E, Reyburn HT, Rodríguez Pena R. (2019) J Allergy Clin Immunol. Jul;144(1):309-312.e10. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2019.02.019.