Expression of type III interferon (IFN) in the vaginal mucosa is mediated primarily by dendritic cells and displays stronger dependence on NF-kappaB than type I IFNs.

Interferons (IFNs) are induced as an initial response to viral infection after recognition of pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs). Here, we report that different PAMPs induce type I and III IFN expression at different ratios after mucosal administration in the vaginas of mice and that Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) stimulation evokes a particularly strong IFN-lambda response, which is essential for optimal antiviral protection. Depletion of CD11c(+) cells in vivo revealed that dendritic cells (DCs) in the vaginal epithelium are a key source of type I and III IFNs during herpes simplex virus infection and after specific stimulation of TLR9. A comparison of the signaling pathways activated by TLR9 and cytoplasmic PRRs, which induced lower levels of IFN-lambda, revealed that high-level induction of IFN-lambda correlated with strong activation of NF-kappaB p65. Inhibition of the NF-kappaB and interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF-3) pathways with the NEMO-binding domain peptide and small interfering RNA (siRNA), respectively, revealed that transcription of the type III IFN genes was more dependent on the NF-kappaB pathway than that of the type I IFN genes, which relied more on the IRF system. Thus, the type I and III IFN genes are not induced through entirely identical pathways, which indicates differential expression of these two types of IFNs under certain conditions.