We observed significantly higher levels of IL-6 and TNF-α in both serum (Fig. 1A,B) and lungs of DDX5+/- mice than that in DDX5+/+ mice following infection with P. multocida and S. aureus for 0–12 h, and M. pneumoniae for 0–24 h (Fig. 1C,D). Here, TNF is linked to infection.