In vertebrates, a total of eleven interferon (IFN) regulatory factors (IRFs), IRF1 to IRF11 are reported, with the conserved presence of IRF1 to IRF9 in all classes of vertebrates. However, IRF10 has been reported only in fish and birds, and IRF11 seems to be a fish specific IRF member. In this study, IRF11 in mandarin fish Siniperca chuatsi was found upregulated following virus infection, and IRF11 was localized constitutively in nucleus as revealed through immunofluorescence test. The overexpression and/or luciferase reporter assays showed that IRF11 can induce transcriptionally the ISRE activity, and the expression of type I IFNs, IFNc and IFNh, as well as the IFN-stimulated gene, Mx, thus inhibiting the Siniperca chuatsi rhabdovirus (SCRV) replication as indicated in the reduced expression of virus protein genes. It is thus suggested that IRF11 in mandarin fish and probably in other teleost fish can exert its antiviral effect through the upregulation of type I IFNs and ISGs.

在脊椎动物中，共报道了 11 种干扰素 (IFN) 调节因子 (IRF)，即 IRF1 至 IRF11，在所有类别的脊椎动物中均保守存在 IRF1 至 IRF9。然而，IRF10 仅在鱼类和鸟类中得到报道，而 IRF11 似乎是鱼类特定的 IRF 成员。本研究发现鳜鱼中的IRF11在病毒感染后上调，免疫荧光检测显示IRF11组成型定位于细胞核。过表达和/或荧光素酶报告基因分析表明，IRF11 可以在转录上诱导 ISRE 活性，以及​​ I 型 IFN、IFNc 和 IFNh 以及 IFN 刺激基因 Mx 的表达，从而抑制中华鳜如病毒蛋白基因表达减少所示的弹状病毒（SCRV）复制。因此表明，鳜鱼和其他硬骨鱼中的 IRF11 可以通过 I 型干扰素和 ISG 的上调发挥其抗病毒作用。