Whereas the cleavage of MerTK may be critical for the accumulation of AC-derived autoantigens and production of pathogenic lupus-specific autoantibodies, the cleavage of Axl could be more generally related to uninhibited TLR activation and production of IFN-α/β and other proinflammatory cytokines. The gene discussed is AXL; the disease is systemic lupus erythematosus.