Transcription profile analysis of wild type and Irf9-/- mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) in response to type I interferons

Host defense by the innate immune system requires the establishment of antimicrobial states allowing cells to cope with microorganisms before the onset of the adaptive immune response. Interferons (IFN) are of vital importance in the establishment of cell-autonomous antimicrobial immunity. Speed is therefore an important attribute of the cellular response to IFN. With much of the antimicrobial response being installed de novo, this pertains foremost to gene expression, the rapid switch between resting-state and active-state transcription of host defense genes. Our results show how mRNA expression changes upon IFNb treatment in wild type and Irf9-/- mouse embryonic fibroblasts. Methods: Mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) mRNA of wild-type (WT) and Irf9 knock out mice (IRF9-/-) untreated, as well as 2h IFNb treated were generated by deep sequencing, in triplicate, using Illumina sequencing.