Targeted high throughput sequencing identifies novel disease candidate genes for systemic lupus erythematosus in Swedish patients

The aim of this study was to identify novel rare genetic variants relevant for SLE. We performed targeted re-sequencing of 219 genes selected on the basis of their role in immune responses, general autoimmunity, and known associations with human SLE, or SLE-related disease in dogs. The study cohort included 144 Swedish SLE patients (pool 1-9) and 17 matching controls (control pool). The Nimblegen capture array was used for target regions enrichment, which were sequenced on Illumina HiSeq2000.