Figure 1

IRF5 is expressed in neoplastic thyrocytes. A. Specimens obtained from seven normal (N) thyrocytes, three patients with thyroid cancer (T) and the indicated immortalized cell lines were analyzed for IRF5 expression. Lysates from each sample were subjected to immunoblot using an anti-IRF5 antibody (Abcam). B. Two normal (N) and two neoplastic thyroid specimens (T) were treated with IFNα and subsequently analyzed by SDS-PAGE with the same antibody employed in A. C. Lysates from the specified cell lines were used to perform anti-IRF5 immunoblots (left panels) before and after exposure to IFNα (Sigma) for the indicated times. Densitometric analysis of the corresponding immunoblots is depicted in histograms (right panel) representing IRF5 expression after 24 (white columns) or 48 hour (black columns) of IFNα treatment. IRF5 levels in untreated cells are arbitrarily set at 1 (dashed line). Columns represent average ± standard deviation of three independent experiments.