IRF8 and autoimmune disease: In support of a role for IRF8 in regulation of Th1-Th17 axis, patients with mutations in IRF8 have impaired Th1 responses (Hambleton et al., 2011) and single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in Irf8 are associated with several autoimmune diseases in which IFN-γ+ Th17 cells play a pathogenic role (Franke et al., 2010; Cunninghame Graham et al., 2011).