Recently, GWAS and multi-staged replication studies integrating quantitative traitloci expression performed in Japanese populations have identified asingle-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), rs340630, within the AF4/FMR2 family,member 1 (AFF1) associated with SLE at genome-widesignificance level (11). Here, AFF1 is linked to systemic lupus erythematosus.