IRF4 and autoimmune disease: However, we do not observe such dramatic outcomes when knocking out Irf4 in murine TREG cells, suggesting other factors may compensate for the loss of Irf4. Mice harboring a conditional knock-down (Foxp3CREIrf4fl/fl) develop spontaneous dermatitis, blepharitis, and lymphadenopathy disease by 5-6 weeks, and die by 3-4 months from a mostly TH2-mediated autoimmune disease (133).