IFNB1 and systemic lupus erythematosus: These 3 genes have been previously identified as IFNα/β-inducible by ex vivo treatment of healthy subject-derived whole blood cells with 10 different IFN-α subtypes and IFN-β, while at the same time being overexpressed in peripheral blood cells of SLE patients (35), the prototypical systemic autoimmune disease characterized by elevated type I IFN responses.