Along the same lines, exploring the properties of IFN-α produced by pDCs, infection of pDCs with a replication-deficient herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) d106S vaccine strain showed a robust cytotoxic effect against various melanoma cell lines that was equivalent or superior to the effects induced by synthetic TLR7 and TLR9 agonists [347]. The gene discussed is IFNA2; the disease is melanoma.