Expression data from infant nasal airway epithelial cells treated with IFN-lambda, poly(I:C), or both. Expression data from infant nasal airway epithelial cells treated with IFN-lambda, poly(I:C), or both

Type III interferon, also known as interferon lambda (IFN-λ), is the newest addition to the IFN family. IFN-λ is primarily produced by the airway epithelium and curbs viral infections without triggering systemic pro-inflammatory cytokine responses1. Of the current IFN COVID-19 trials (as of 6/27/2020), four propose the use of IFN-λ. However, it remains to be determined whether IFN-λ induces ACE2 expression in the human airway epithelium. Overall design: Using primary human nasal airway epithelium of young children, we employed RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymetrix microarrays to examine for the first time the effects of IFN-λ and a viral mimic (poly I:C) on the expression of ACE2 and the global antiviral transcriptomic program.