AUTHOR=Selvakumar Tharini A. , Bhushal Sudeep , Kalinke Ulrich , Wirth Dagmar , Hauser Hansjörg , Köster Mario , Hornef Mathias W. 

TITLE=Identification of a Predominantly Interferon-λ-Induced Transcriptional Profile in Murine Intestinal Epithelial Cells

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=8

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2017.01302

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2017.01302

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=<p>Type I (α and β) and type III (λ) interferons (IFNs) induce the expression of a large set of antiviral effector molecules <italic>via</italic> their respective surface membrane receptors. Whereas most cell types respond to type I IFN, type III IFN preferentially acts on epithelial cells and protects mucosal organs such as the lung and gastrointestinal tract. Despite the engagement of different receptor molecules, the type I and type III IFN-induced signaling cascade and upregulated gene profile is thought to be largely identical. Here, we comparatively analyzed the response of gut epithelial cells to IFN-β and IFN-λ<sub>2</sub> and identified a set of genes predominantly induced by IFN-λ<sub>2</sub>. We confirm the influence of epithelial cell polarization for enhanced type III receptor expression and demonstrate the induction of predominantly IFN-λ<sub>2</sub>-induced genes in the gut epithelium <italic>in vivo</italic>. Our results suggest that IFN-λ<sub>2</sub> targets the epithelium and induces genes to adjust the antiviral host response to the requirements at mucosal body sites.</p>