A group of HLA-DRB1 alleles encoding a conserved amino acid sequence at positions 70-74 (QKRAA, QRRAA, or RRRAA) of the third hypervariable region (HVR3) of the HLA-DR β chain, known as “Shared Epitope” (SE), has been widely associated with RA risk (6). The gene discussed is HLA-DRB1; the disease is rheumatoid arthritis.