Importantly, we were able to validate direct roles for several SLE-associated distal OCR in the regulation of their connected genes (BCL6, CXCR5, IKZF1) using CRISPR/CAS9-mediated editing in human T cells, confirming that SLE-associated genetic variation marks regulatory elements for genes with known roles in TFH and/or SLE biology. This evidence concerns the gene BCL6 and systemic lupus erythematosus.