ITGAX and Autoimmunity: As such, blood MZp B-cells from progressors also possess higher gene expression levels of T-bet and CD11c, a characteristic related to age-associated B-cells, and shared by a similar heterogeneous population found to be expanded in autoimmunity, chronic infections, antibody-mediated rejection in organ transplants [52,53,54] and critically ill patients with SARS-CoV-2 [55].