Functional characterization of goose IRF1 in IFN induction and anti-NDV infection

Interferon regulatory factors (IRFs) play a key role in many aspects of immune response, and IRF1, IRF3, and IRF7 are positive regulators of IFN induction in mammals. However, IRF3, as the most critical regulatory factor in mammals, is naturally absent in birds, which attracts us to study the functions of other members of the avian IRF family. In the present study, we cloned goose IRF1 (GoIRF1) and conducted a series of bioinformatics analyses to compare the protein homology of GoIRF1 with that of IRF1 in other species. The overexpression of GoIRF1 in DF-1 cells induced the activation of IFN-β, and this activation is independent of the dosage of the transfected GoIRF1 plasmids. The overexpression of GoIRF1 in goose embryonic fibroblasts (GEFs) induced the expression of IFNs, proinflammatory cytokines, and IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs); it also inhibited the replication of green fluorescent protein (GFP)-tagged Newcastle disease virus (NDV) (NDV-GFP) and GFP-tagged vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) (VSV-GFP). Our results suggest that GoIRF1 is an important regulator of IFNs, proinflammatory cytokines, and ISGs and plays a role in antiviral innate immunity in geese.