IFNB1 and infection: Fig. 2A shows the RT-qPCR results of the IFN-β gene throughout the 24 h course of Chlamydia infection of the Bm1.11 OE cells. As shown, the IFN-β gene expression was induced at 4 h post-infection, and the expression steadily increased until reaching its highest levels at 16 h. These results echo the findings of the IFN-β protein data (Fig. 1) that show that the IFN-β protein is secreted at the lowest levels early during infection, but that it was secreted at steadily increasing levels as the infection progresses.