From a lupus perspective, HMGB1, a DNA-binding protein with alarmin potential when released into the extracellular space, has received considerable interest in recent years, as evidenced by the number of review articles written on this topic (Abdulahad et al., 2010; Pan et al., 2010; Urbonaviciute and Voll, 2011; Pisetsky, 2012). Here, HMGB1 is linked to systemic lupus erythematosus.