CD247 and systemic lupus erythematosus: Genes which were more hypermethylated in SLE participants with renal disease included CD47, which has been shown to regulate T cell production of vascular endothelial growth factor (25), and CD247, which encodes the T-cell receptor zeta chain, and in turn, plays a key role in antigen receptor-mediated signaling and has been shown to be downregulated in SLE T cells (26).