SCARF1 and autoimmune disease: Its homology with such a key protein in C. elegans is highly suggestive of an important role for SCARF1 in mammalian biology and, unlike the majority of scavenger receptor-deficient mouse lines which do not exhibit a resting state phenotype, the importance of SCARF1 becomes apparent in SCARF1-deficient (SCARF1−/−) mice which spontaneously develop systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE)-like autoimmune disease from 20 weeks of age.