Although one may speculate that this result may have been linked to the use of a viral vector to deliver the shRNAs, there are several reports suggesting that IRF5 may be involved in myofibroblast or fibroblast biology: fibroblasts from Irf5 KO mice showed a decrease production of collagen and other ECM components, which may contribute to the protection against disease seen with Irf5 deficiency in the bleomycin skin mouse model and with the Irf5 inhibition in the tight skin mice48,49. This evidence concerns the gene IRF5 and neoplasm.