The AIRE gene and susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis in the Spanish population

AIRE is a transcriptional regulator that plays a functional role in thymocyte education and negative selection by controlling the expression of peripheral antigens in thymus. This gene has been associated with the susceptibility to rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in a recent GWAS carried out in the Japanese population; nevertheless, no association has been described in Caucasian populations.