Mice with humanized immune systems, namely NOD/Shi-scid/IL-2Rγnull mice reconstituted with CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells, that were infected with EBV went on to spontaneously develop erosive arthritis, suggesting a causative role of EBV in arthritis development (Kuwana et al., 2011). This evidence concerns the gene CD34 and arthritic joint disease.