IFNA1 and infection: In response to rGI and rGIII infection, the levels of IFN-α and β induction increased at the mRNA and protein levels in the cells treated with siRNA (siRNA+), as compared with mock-infected cells, but were significantly lower than those in the cells treated with scrambled RNA control (siRNA-) (Fig 2D and 2E), suggesting that IFN-α and β expression was silenced.