Digging Into the Roots of Lupus

The two studies push interferon alpha “front and center” in lupus, says Yale physician and immunobiologist Joseph Craft, writing in the same issue of Science Translational Medicine. The reports demonstrate that the release of NETs by neutrophils and their capacity to bind to the dendritic cells “drive the chronic interferon alpha production seen in many patients with lupus.”

Identifying the roles of specific cells and proteins in lupus justifies ongoing efforts to target “the pathogenic steps in disease, perhaps using combination therapies,” Craft says.

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