Comparative Functional Analysis of 12 Mammalian IFN-?4 Orthologs

Paquin, Ashley; Onabajo, Olusegun O.; Tang, Wei; Prokunina-Olsson, Ludmila

In conclusion, the importance of IFN-l4 in different aspects of antiviral response can be implied based on the conservation of its sequence and biological activity in mammals. However, it remains largely unknown what factors induce endogenous IFN-l4 expression in different conditions and why elimination of IFN-l4 was a beneficial event in humans strongly supported by positive selection. Answers to these questions might be relevant for dealing with existing and emerging infections across species. Viral infections have been directly responsible for some of the most dramatic and deadly disease pandemics in human history and many of these infections, including the recent Ebola outbreak, are of zoonotic origin ( Jones and others 2008). There are also indirect devastating effects of these infections through the loss of livestock and wildlife, causing food shortages and financial distress (Frolich and others 2002; Thumbi and others 2015) . Some animals and corresponding derived cell lines are used for studies of human infections and vaccine development (Meurens and others 2012; Gerdts and others 2015) . Thus, our findings and research tools might help to identify factors that trigger IFN-l4 expression and explore the spectrum of its biological effects in different conditions.