As NKG2D is also expressed on CD4− cells, including the CD8+ T, NK and NKT cells, we then analyzed the correlation between these cells with Treg cells and the results showed no obvious correlation between the frequency of NKG2D+CD8+ T cells, NKG2D+ NK cells or NKG2D+ NKT cells with Treg cells in SLE patients (Supplementary Figure 2). The gene discussed is CD4; the disease is systemic lupus erythematosus.