IRF7 and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: In this regard, the purpose of this study was to analyze the cell type expression of IFN-beta, its main transcription factor (IRF-7), and two ISG products (RIG-I, retinoic acid-inducible gene 1 protein and MDA-5, melanoma differentiation-associated gene 5) in lung samples from COPD and non-COPD patients.