Our findings strongly suggest that beyond the impact on antigen presentation, genetic risk at the HLA region is also mediated through the epigenetic and transcriptional alterations of many genes residing within the HLA such as HLA-F, HLA-A, HLA-C, HCP5, PSMB8, TAP1, and PSMB9. These results are in concordance with previous work showing an overexpression of these genes in SLE patients7. This evidence concerns the gene HCP5 and systemic lupus erythematosus.