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Autoimmunity

Interferon α or β: which is the culprit in autoimmune disease?

Type I interferons contribute to the pathogenesis of several autoimmune diseases, with each interferon being preferentially produced in different settings by different cells. Could knowing which one is predominant in a given disease — or patient — lead to better therapies?

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Figure 1: Proposed roles for IFNα and IFNβ in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) pathogenesis.

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Correspondence to Mary K. Crow.

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Competing interests

M.K.C. declares that she has acted as a consultant for Astra-Zeneca, BMS, Lilly, MedImmune, Neovacs, Novartis and Roche.

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Crow, M. Interferon α or β: which is the culprit in autoimmune disease?. Nat Rev Rheumatol 12, 439–440 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrrheum.2016.117

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