Autoimmune diseases encompass about 85 conditions in which the patient’s own immune system attacks itself, rather than foreign, antigens and directly causes pathology. These diseases can affect virtually any site in the body and are now among the top 10 causes of morbidity in women (1). Some autoimmune diseases, such as Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, rheumatoid arthritis, Graves’ disease, and systemi...

Polymorphic variation of immune system proteins can drive variability individual responses. Endoplasmic reticulum aminopeptidase 1 (ERAP1) generates antigenic peptides for presentation by major histocompatibility complex class I molecules. Coding SNPs in ERAP1 have been associated with predisposition to inflammatory rheumatic disease and shown affect functional properties the enzyme, but interp...