Increasing the expression of SUV39H1 in SLE CD4+ T cells lowered the levels of CREMα, IL-17A, and CREMα promoter H3K4me3, and augmented the abundances of IL-2, H3K9me3, DNA methylation, and DNMT3a in the CREMα promoter region. The gene discussed is IL17A; the disease is systemic lupus erythematosus.