# IRF1

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/irf1/  
OnCo record `irf1` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

IRF1 (Interferon regulatory factor 1) is a gene whose normal job is to hold cell growth in check. The public catalogues list it as a tumour suppressor, and it is called a cancer driver by mutation analysis of patient cohorts. Tied to Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer and Multiple myeloma.

## Summary

Transcriptional regulator which displays a remarkable functional diversity in the regulation of cellular responses. Regulates transcription of IFN and IFN-inducible genes, host response to viral and bacterial infections, regulation of many genes expressed during haematopoiesis, inflammation, immune responses and cell proliferation and differentiation, regulation of the cell cycle and induction of growth arrest and programmed cell death following DNA damage. Stimulates both innate and acquired immune responses through the activation of specific target genes and can act as a transcriptional activator and repressor regulating target genes by binding to an interferon-stimulated response element (ISRE) in their promoters.

Open Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.66 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes literature 0.99, genetic association 0.62, somatic mutation 0.60, genetic literature 0.61). IntOGen calls it a driver in 1 cohort (0 activating, 1 loss-of-function), covering Plasma Cell Myeloma.

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: interferon regulatory factor 1; Interferon regulatory factor 1
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: IRF1
- Class: tumor-suppressor
- Biology: Transcriptional regulator which displays a remarkable functional diversity in the regulation of cellular responses. Regulates transcription of IFN and IFN-inducible genes, host response to viral and bacterial infections, regulation of many genes expressed during haematopoiesis, inflammation, immune responses and cell proliferation and differentiation, regulation of the cell cycle and induction of growth arrest and programmed cell death following DNA damage. Stimulates both innate and acquired immune responses through the activation of specific target genes and can act as a transcriptional activator and repressor regulating target genes by binding to an interferon-stimulated response element (ISRE) in their promoters. Has an essential role in IFNG-dependent immunity to mycobacteria. Competes with the transcriptional repressor ZBED2 for binding to a common consensus sequence in gene promoters. Its target genes for transcriptional activation activity include: genes involved in anti-viral response, such as IFN-alpha/beta, RIGI, TNFSF10/TRAIL, ZBP1, OAS1/2, PIAS1/GBP, EIF2AK2/PKR and RSAD2/viperin; antibacterial response, such as GBP2, GBP5 and NOS2/INOS; anti-proliferative response, such as p53/TP53, LOX and CDKN1A; apoptosis, such as BBC3/PUMA, CASP1, CASP7 and CASP8; immune response, such as IL7, IL12A/B and IL15, PTGS2/COX2 and CYBB; DNA damage responses and DNA repair, such as POLQ/POLH; MHC class I expression, such as TAP1, PSMB9/LMP2, PSME1/PA28A, PSME2/PA28B and B2M and MHC class II expression, such as CIITA; metabolic enzymes, such as ACOD1/IRG1. Location: Nucleus; Cytoplasm (UniProt). Locus 5q31.1 (HGNC).
- Where found: Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer: Open Targets association 0.64 with gastric cancer (MONDO_0001056); Multiple myeloma: IntOGen driver in 1 cohort (PCM)

## Notes

- Written by scripts/fetch-cancer-genes.ts from CIViC, Open Targets, IntOGen, HGNC and UniProt; the function text is UniProt's, condensed and in UK spelling. Roles: IntOGen calls it a loss-of-function (LoF) driver in 1 cohort. Evidence tier "cohort-driver" is the strongest of those signals.
- Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:6116: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:6116
- UniProt P10914: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/P10914/entry
- NCBI Gene 3659: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/3659
- Ensembl ENSG00000125347: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000125347

## Connected records

- collections: [IntOGen](https://onco.cc/collections/intogen/), [Open Targets Platform](https://onco.cc/collections/open-targets/)
- cancers: [Gastric & gastro-oesophageal junction cancer](https://onco.cc/cancers/gastric/), [Multiple myeloma](https://onco.cc/cancers/multiple-myeloma/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/irf1.json