Given reports on TLR-induced IFNα production by SLE pDCs, and the downregulation of pDCs and their TLRs observed in our cohort of SLE patients, we evaluated if TLR7 and TLR9 activation pathways were affected by downstream signaling molecules in pDCs from SLE patients. The gene discussed is IFNA2; the disease is systemic lupus erythematosus.