IRF5 and systemic lupus erythematosus: The IRF5 association with SLE was narrowed down to three different haplotype blocks that seem to have independent functional consequences, including 1) alteration of the protein stability, 2) creation of a donor splice site in intron 1 resulting in transcription of an alternative exon 1B, and 3) modification of the 3′UTR length which affects expression levels [11].