Interestingly, depletion of antibodies bearing the 9G4 idiotype decreased the reactivity to DNase1L3 by 0% to 80% in anti-DNase1L3 positive SLE sera (Fig. 4a), demonstrating that a subset of anti-DNase1L3 antibodies derive from autoreactive VH4-34-expressing B cells, and that the proportion of these autoantibodies importantly vary among SLE patients. This evidence concerns the gene DNASE1L3 and systemic lupus erythematosus.