ReviewFrontiers in immunology2026
The emerging clinical relevance of cell-free DNA in lupus: from mechanistic insights to therapeutic opportunities.
Review in Frontiers in immunology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Circulating cell-free DNA as a biomarker in systemic lupus erythematosus: A narrative review.Journal of translational autoimmunity · 2026Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex autoimmune disease often characterised by dysregulated immune responses to self-DNA. Emerging evidence highlights the role of cell-free DNA (cfDNA) in promoting immune activation in SLE. Cell-free DNA is released primarily during cell death and is cleared by nucleases such as DNASE1L3. This review explores how molecular characteristics of cfDNA, such as fragment length, end motifs, jaggedness, and epigenetic modifications, serve as biomarkers of disease activity and may contribute to pathogenesis. The review then explains how deficiencies in DNASE1L3 alter cfDNA fragmentation, increase immunogenic potential, and enhance type I interferon signalling via plasmacytoid dendritic cells, driving B-cell differentiation and anti-double-stranded DNA (anti-dsDNA) antibody production. We also discuss how autoantibodies can cross-react to neutralise DNASE1L3, impeding DNA clearance and exacerbating inflammation. We conclude by highlighting how these findings underpin the dual role of cfDNA as both a disease mediator and a diagnostic tool and support the ongoing development of IFN-I and pDC-targeting therapies, which show promising clinical relevance. Moreover, we discuss how large-scale validation and standardisation are essential for translating these molecular insights into precision medicine for diverse SLE populations.
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Registered trials
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