The evolution of the type I IFN transcriptional response across metazoans [PRO-seq]

Type I interferon cytokines trigger an antiviral cellular state by binding to receptors that transduce a signaling response to induce the transcription of hundreds of interferon-stimulated genes. However, it remains poorly understood how gene transcription regulation has been rewired through evolutionary time to achieve species-specific changes in the interferon-controlled transcriptional response.

We generated nascent transcription (PRO-seq) and steady-state mRNA expression (RNA-seq) datasets from 6 species to investigate differences in the transcriptional response triggered by type I interferon across animals.