The Superti-Furga lab at CeMM in collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim have identified a new key element of the multi-component machinery responsible for sorting out the nature and severity of the pathogen challenge. The new protein „TASL“ is indispensable for the signaling of so-called Toll-like receptors (TLR) in the endosomes leading to activation of the gene-activator IRF5 in certain immune cells. Sensitive “tuning” of the machinery is highly important as too much output causes inflammation also in the absence of the pathogen, as in auto-immune diseases. This particular version of the machinery seems particularly associated with disorders such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).