Immunofluorescent staining of skin samples from DLE and SLE patients revealed that the CLE lesions had been infiltrated by large numbers of pDCs, the principal natural IFN-producing cell, and the density of pDCs correlated well with the high number of cells expressing the IFN-α/β-inducible protein MxA, suggesting that pDCs produce IFN-α/β locally [43]. The gene discussed is IFNA1; the disease is systemic lupus erythematosus.