# IRF5

Source: https://onco.cc/targets/irf5/  
OnCo record `irf5` (Target). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

IRF5 (Interferon regulatory factor 5) is a protein that switches other genes on and off. In the public catalogues the evidence so far is association rather than a proven role.

## Summary

Transcription factor that plays a critical role in innate immunity by activating expression of type I interferon (IFN) IFNA and INFB and inflammatory cytokines downstream of endolysosomal toll-like receptors TLR7, TLR8 and TLR9. Regulates the transcription of type I IFN genes (IFN-alpha and IFN-beta) and IFN-stimulated genes (ISG) by binding to an interferon-stimulated response element (ISRE) in their promoters. Can efficiently activate both the IFN-beta (IFNB) and the IFN-alpha (IFNA) genes and mediate their induction downstream of the TLR-activated, MyD88-dependent pathway.

Open Targets scores its association with cancer at 0.53 (direct and indirect evidence; datatypes literature 0.96, genetic association 0.66).

## Fields

- Kind: Target
- Last checked: 2026-09-23
- Also known as: interferon regulatory factor 5; Interferon regulatory factor 5; IRF-5
- Tags: cancer-genes-wave
- Symbol: IRF5
- Class: transcription
- Biology: Transcription factor that plays a critical role in innate immunity by activating expression of type I interferon (IFN) IFNA and INFB and inflammatory cytokines downstream of endolysosomal toll-like receptors TLR7, TLR8 and TLR9. Regulates the transcription of type I IFN genes (IFN-alpha and IFN-beta) and IFN-stimulated genes (ISG) by binding to an interferon-stimulated response element (ISRE) in their promoters. Can efficiently activate both the IFN-beta (IFNB) and the IFN-alpha (IFNA) genes and mediate their induction downstream of the TLR-activated, MyD88-dependent pathway. Key transcription factor regulating the IFN response during SARS-CoV-2 infection. Location: Cytoplasm; Nucleus (UniProt). Locus 7q32.1 (HGNC).

## 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: none stated by the sources. Evidence tier "association-only" is the strongest of those signals.
- Prevalence not recorded: none of the sources gives a positivity rate.

## Sources

- HGNC HGNC:6120: https://www.genenames.org/data/gene-symbol-report/#!/hgnc_id/HGNC:6120
- UniProt Q13568: https://www.uniprot.org/uniprotkb/Q13568/entry
- NCBI Gene 3663: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/3663
- Ensembl ENSG00000128604: https://www.ensembl.org/Homo_sapiens/Gene/Summary?g=ENSG00000128604

## Connected records

- collections: [Open Targets Platform](https://onco.cc/collections/open-targets/)

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JSON: https://onco.cc/api/v1/entities/irf5.json