IRF2 Gene

Name	interferon regulatory factor 2
Description	IRF2 encodes interferon regulatory factor 2, a member of the interferon regulatory transcription factor (IRF) family. IRF2 competitively inhibits the IRF1-mediated transcriptional activation of interferons alpha and beta, and presumably other genes that employ IRF1 for transcription activation. However, IRF2 also functions as a transcriptional activator of histone H4. [provided by RefSeq, Jul 2008]
Summary	{"type": "root", "children": [{"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Interferon regulatory factor 2 (IRF2) is emerging as a critical transcriptional regulator that modulates immune responses largely through its activity as a repressor. For example, IRF2 is constitutively bound to promoter elements—in the TLR3 promoter, for instance—helping to establish basal gene expression and temper IFN‐β induction upon stimulation."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "1"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " In T‐cell polarization, IRF2, together with IRF1, directly occupies distinct sites within the IL‑4 promoter to suppress IL‑4 gene transcription, thereby contributing to the attenuation of Th2 cytokine production and favoring Th1 responses."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "2"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " In the context of tumor immunology, IRF2 has been implicated as one of the transcriptional repressors of PD‑L1; in medulloblastoma, for instance, persistent expression of IRF2 (along with its binding partner IRF2BP2) in the absence of cyclin-dependent kinase 5 activity is associated with reduced PD‑L1 expression and enhanced antitumor immune responses."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "3"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Although studies of uterine natural killer (uNK) cell development indicate that deletion of IRF1 limits uNK differentiation while loss of IRF2 does not significantly impact this process, this contrast underscores IRF2’s more specialized regulatory roles in other immune contexts."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "4"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": ""}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n \n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Moreover, IRF2 expression is modulated upon cytokine signaling; for instance, in IFN‑γ–activated macrophages, treatment with 1α,25‑dihydroxyvitamin D₃ suppresses multiple IFN‑γ–induced genes including IRF2, correlating with diminished macrophage effector functions."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "5"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " In addition, structural and functional analyses have revealed that IRF2 can cooperate or compete with members of the ETS/IRF transcription factor family—interacting with factors such as PU.1—to fine‑tune the transcriptional output of target genes."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "6"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " Finally, emerging evidence also points to a role for IRF2 in inflammasome‐related signaling pathways, where it is essential for the transcriptional activation of key mediators that control pyroptotic responses."}, {"type": "fg", "children": [{"type": "fg_f", "ref": "7"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n "}]}, {"type": "t", "text": "\n \n "}, {"type": "p", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "\n Collectively, these findings highlight IRF2 as a multifaceted regulator that tempers excessive inflammatory responses and influences immune cell differentiation by repressing genes involved in cytokine production and immune checkpoint regulation.\n "}]}, {"type": "rg", "children": [{"type": "r", "ref": 1, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Sven Heinz, Viola Haehnel, Marina Karaghiosoff, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Species-specific regulation of Toll-like receptor 3 genes in men and mice."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Biol Chem (2003)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1074/jbc.M301476200"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1074/jbc.M301476200"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "12672806"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12672806"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 2, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Bernd Elser, Michael Lohoff, Sonja Kock, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "IFN-gamma represses IL-4 expression via IRF-1 and IRF-2."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Immunity (2002)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/s1074-7613(02)00471-5"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/s1074-7613(02"}, {"type": "t", "text": "00471-5) PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "12479817"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12479817"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 3, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "R Dixon Dorand, Joseph Nthale, Jay T Myers, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Cdk5 disruption attenuates tumor PD-L1 expression and promotes antitumor immunity."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Science (2016)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1126/science.aae0477"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aae0477"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "27463676"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27463676"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 4, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Ali A Ashkar, Gordon P Black, Qingxia Wei, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Assessment of requirements for IL-15 and IFN regulatory factors in uterine NK cell differentiation and function during pregnancy."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "J Immunol (2003)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.4049/jimmunol.171.6.2937"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.171.6.2937"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "12960317"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12960317"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 5, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Laura Helming, Jens Böse, Jan Ehrchen, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "1alpha,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 is a potent suppressor of interferon gamma-mediated macrophage activation."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Blood (2005)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1182/blood-2005-03-1029"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2005-03-1029"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "16118315"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16118315"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 6, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Carlos R Escalante, Abraham L Brass, Jagan M R Pongubala, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Crystal structure of PU.1/IRF-4/DNA ternary complex."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Mol Cell (2002)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1016/s1097-2765(02)00703-7"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1016/s1097-2765(02"}, {"type": "t", "text": "00703-7) PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "12453417"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12453417"}]}, {"type": "r", "ref": 7, "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Nobuhiko Kayagaki, Bettina L Lee, Irma B Stowe, et al. "}, {"type": "b", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "IRF2 transcriptionally induces "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "i"}], "href": "i"}, {"type": "t", "text": "GSDMD"}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "/i"}], "href": "/i"}, {"type": "t", "text": " expression for pyroptosis."}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " "}, {"type": "i", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "Sci Signal (2019)"}]}, {"type": "t", "text": " DOI: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "10.1126/scisignal.aax4917"}], "href": "https://doi.org/10.1126/scisignal.aax4917"}, {"type": "t", "text": " PMID: "}, {"type": "a", "children": [{"type": "t", "text": "31113851"}], "href": "https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31113851"}]}]}]}
Synonyms	IRF-2
Proteins	IRF2_HUMAN
NCBI Gene ID	3660
API
Download Associations
Predicted Functions
Co-expressed Genes
Expression in Tissues and Cell Lines

Functional Associations

IRF2 has 7,154 functional associations with biological entities spanning 8 categories (molecular profile, organism, functional term, phrase or reference, chemical, disease, phenotype or trait, structural feature, cell line, cell type or tissue, gene, protein or microRNA) extracted from 119 datasets.

Click the + buttons to view associations for IRF2 from the datasets below.

If available, associations are ranked by standardized value

Harmonizome 3.0

IRF2 Gene

Functional Associations

Please acknowledge the Harmonizome in your publications by citing the following reference(s):

	Dataset	Summary
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of IRF2 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of IRF2 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Adult Mouse Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles	tissue samples with high or low expression of IRF2 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Aging Dementia and Traumatic Brain Injury Tissue Sample Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray	tissue samples with high or low expression of IRF2 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by Microarray dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq	tissue samples with high or low expression of IRF2 gene relative to other tissue samples from the Allen Brain Atlas Developing Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles by RNA-seq dataset.
	Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	tissues with high or low expression of IRF2 gene relative to other tissues from the Allen Brain Atlas Prenatal Human Brain Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	Biocarta Pathways	pathways involving IRF2 protein from the Biocarta Pathways dataset.
	BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of IRF2 gene relative to other cell lines from the BioGPS Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of IRF2 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Human Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles	cell types and tissues with high or low expression of IRF2 gene relative to other cell types and tissues from the BioGPS Mouse Cell Type and Tissue Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of IRF2 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles	cell lines with high or low expression of IRF2 gene relative to other cell lines from the CCLE Cell Line Gene Expression Profiles dataset.
	CCLE Cell Line Proteomics	Cell lines associated with IRF2 protein from the CCLE Cell Line Proteomics dataset.
	CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations	cell types associated with IRF2 gene from the CellMarker Gene-Cell Type Associations dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of IRF2 gene from the CHEA Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of IRF2 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ChEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022	transcription factors binding the promoter of IRF2 gene in low- or high-throughput transcription factor functional studies from the CHEA Transcription Factor Targets 2022 dataset.
	CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules	small molecule perturbations changing expression of IRF2 gene from the CMAP Signatures of Differentially Expressed Genes for Small Molecules dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components containing IRF2 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing IRF2 protein from the COMPARTMENTS Curated Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components containing IRF2 protein in low- or high-throughput protein localization assays from the COMPARTMENTS Experimental Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores	cellular components co-occuring with IRF2 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores dataset.
	COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025	cellular components co-occuring with IRF2 protein in abstracts of biomedical publications from the COMPARTMENTS Text-mining Protein Localization Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles	cell lines with high or low copy number of IRF2 gene relative to other cell lines from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene CNV Profiles dataset.
	COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles	cell lines with IRF2 gene mutations from the COSMIC Cell Line Gene Mutation Profiles dataset.
	CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions	chemicals interacting with IRF2 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Chemical Interactions dataset.
	CTD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with IRF2 gene/protein from the curated CTD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	dbGAP Gene-Trait Associations	traits associated with IRF2 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the dbGAP Gene-Trait Associations dataset.
	DeepCoverMOA Drug Mechanisms of Action	small molecule perturbations with high or low expression of IRF2 protein relative to other small molecule perturbations from the DeepCoverMOA Drug Mechanisms of Action dataset.
	DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency	cell lines with fitness changed by IRF2 gene knockdown relative to other cell lines from the DepMap CRISPR Gene Dependency dataset.
	DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases associated with IRF2 gene in GWAS datasets from the DISEASES Experimental Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores	diseases co-occuring with IRF2 gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores dataset.
	DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Association Evidence Scores 2025	diseases co-occuring with IRF2 gene in abstracts of biomedical publications from the DISEASES Text-mining Gene-Disease Assocation Evidence Scores 2025 dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with IRF2 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Disease Associations dataset.
	DisGeNET Gene-Phenotype Associations	phenotypes associated with IRF2 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the DisGeNET Gene-Phenoptype Associations dataset.
	ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles	histone modification site profiles with high histone modification abundance at IRF2 gene from the ENCODE Histone Modification Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles	transcription factor binding site profiles with transcription factor binding evidence at the promoter of IRF2 gene from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Binding Site Profiles dataset.
	ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets	transcription factors binding the promoter of IRF2 gene in ChIP-seq datasets from the ENCODE Transcription Factor Targets dataset.
	ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells	PubMedIDs of publications reporting gene signatures containing IRF2 from the ESCAPE Omics Signatures of Genes and Proteins for Stem Cells dataset.
	GAD Gene-Disease Associations	diseases associated with IRF2 gene in GWAS and other genetic association datasets from the GAD Gene-Disease Associations dataset.