Among them, IFN regulatory factor 9 (IRF9) was identified as a candidate splicing event after our analysis for its crucial role in amplifying the early dynamics of IFN-mediated signal transduction [23], which is consistent with our above finding that PTBP2-altered NB cells activated the IFN-I signaling pathway of Mφs. The gene discussed is IRF9; the disease is neuroblastoma.