Fig. 6

Effects of IRF expression levels on different biological phenomena. A, B Based on TCGA and GEO databases, the immune and stromal scores of patients with CRC in the high-IRF group were significantly lower than those in the low-IRF group. C Significant differences in IRF risk scores were found between the immunotherapy-benefit and non-benefit groups. D The GDSC database was used to evaluate the correlations between IRF family expression levels and sensitivities to chemotherapeutic drugs. The green text indicated negative correlations between IRF expression and sensitivity, and the red text indicated positive correlations. E Significant differences in IRF scores between the immunotherapy-benefit and non-benefit groups. F Genetic mutation frequencies of IRF family were evaluated in patients from COAD/READ datasets. G The Search Tool for Retrieving Interacting Genes (STRING) database was used to analyze a protein–protein interaction (PPI) of DEGs. H The STRING results were imported into a Cytoscape software to further depict the contact among them. Red text represented upregulated genes and blue text represented downregulated genes, where the color intensity was positively correlated with fold change. I The maximum clique centrality algorithm was used to identify core genes in the PPI network, and the red and yellow nodes represented the top eight hub genes. J A ceRNA network was pictured based on differentially expressed mRNAs, miRNAs and lncRNAs, where yellow diamonds represented lncRNAs, green triangles represented miRNAs, and red ovals represented mRNAs. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001