A novel pathogenetic concept—antiviral immunity in lupus nephritis

Lupus nephritis is a complication of systemic lupus erythematosus, a heterogeneous autoimmune syndrome that involves multiple pathogenetic pathways. Here, Adriana Migliorini and Hans-Joachim Anders summarize accumulating data from the fields of genetics, clinical science, transcriptomics and basic immunology which indicate that antiviral immunity is involved in the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis. The authors also discuss the potential implications for innovative therapeutic strategies.