Recent research has shifted attention toward very early molecular events in SLE, particularly the destabilization of innate immune cells — dendritic cells and monocytes — as a critical trigger that precedes and potentially initiates the downstream activation of autoreactive B and T lymphocytes. Rather than viewing SLE as beginning with faulty adaptive immunity (the B and T cells that produce antibodies), this research suggests the earliest pathological changes occur in the innate immune system's sentinel cells. Better characterizing these early innate immune events could eventually enable detection and intervention before the full autoantibody-driven disease cascade is established.