Zhang Meiling, Wen Qingqing, Tang Shaoshuai, Chen Yanghui, Wang Bei, Long Meng, Lu Yishan, Gan Zhen
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Aquatic Animal Disease Control and Healthy culture, and Key Laboratory of Control for Disease of Aquatic Animals of Guangdong Higher Education Institute, College of Fishery, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524088, China; Guangdong Provincial Engineering Research Center for Aquatic Animal Health Assessment, and Shenzhen Public Service Platform for Evaluation of Marine Economic Animal Seedings, Shenzhen Institute of Guangdong Ocean University, Shenzhen 518120, China.
Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Aquatic Animal Disease Control and Healthy culture, and Key Laboratory of Control for Disease of Aquatic Animals of Guangdong Higher Education Institute, College of Fishery, Guangdong Ocean University, Zhanjiang 524088, China; Guangdong Provincial Engineering Research Center for Aquatic Animal Health Assessment, and Shenzhen Public Service Platform for Evaluation of Marine Economic Animal Seedings, Shenzhen Institute of Guangdong Ocean University, Shenzhen 518120, China.
Int J Biol Macromol. 2025 Jul;318(Pt 2):145077. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2025.145077. Epub 2025 Jun 8.
Interferon regulatory factors (IRFs) are a family of immune regulators in the production of interferons (IFNs), and IRF11 is considered as a fish-specific IRF member sharing similarities with IRF1. However, the information about the distinct functions of fish IRF1 and IRF11 is rather limited. Here, we cloned IRF1 and IRF11 genes (named as On-IRF1 and On-IRF11) from tilapia. Syntenic analysis suggested that IRF1 and IRF11 genes are two distinct IRF members located in different genomic regions. Expression analyses showed that a much higher upregulation of On-IRF1 was observed than that of On-IRF11 after poly(I:C) treatment. In addition, On-IRF1 (not On-IRF11) is a typical interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) as seen in mammals, and On-IRF1 induction by IFNs depends on the JAK-STAT signaling. Importantly, the transfection of On-IRF1 elicited a dramatic and sustained induction of IFN and ISGs, whereas On-IRF11 triggered a transient induction with a relative low level in fish cells. Consistently, the antiviral effect of On-IRF1 was much higher than that of On-IRF11, and DBD and IAD are essential for the antiviral functions of On-IRF1 and On-IRF11. The present results thus contribute to better understanding of the functional divergence of fish IRF1 and IRF11 in type I IFNs responses.
干扰素调节因子（IRFs）是一类在干扰素（IFNs）产生过程中起作用的免疫调节因子，IRF11被认为是鱼类特有的IRF成员，与IRF1具有相似性。然而，关于鱼类IRF1和IRF11不同功能的信息相当有限。在此，我们从罗非鱼中克隆了IRF1和IRF11基因（命名为On-IRF1和On-IRF11）。共线性分析表明，IRF1和IRF11基因是位于不同基因组区域的两个不同的IRF成员。表达分析显示，在聚肌胞苷酸（poly(I:C)）处理后，On-IRF1的上调幅度远高于On-IRF11。此外，与哺乳动物中所见情况一样，On-IRF1（而非On-IRF11）是典型的干扰素刺激基因（ISGs），IFNs对On-IRF1的诱导依赖于JAK-STAT信号通路。重要的是，转染On-IRF1会引发IFN和ISGs的显著且持续的诱导，而On-IRF11在鱼类细胞中引发的是相对低水平的短暂诱导。一致地，On-IRF1的抗病毒作用远高于On-IRF11，并且DNA结合结构域（DBD）和干扰素激活结构域（IAD）对On-IRF1和On-IRF11的抗病毒功能至关重要。因此，本研究结果有助于更好地理解鱼类IRF1和IRF11在I型IFNs反应中的功能差异。
