Apart from MAVS signaling, the IFN-β response during pathogen infection was also reported to be triggered by nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB).22 In our study, CORT-treated A549 cells with virus infection displayed an obvious increase of NF-κB/p65 compared to cells exposed to virus alone (Supplementary Fig. S6). This evidence concerns the gene IFNB1 and infection.