GWAS implicates a role for quantitative immune traits and threshold effects in risk for human autoimmune disorders

► A large number of associations for autoimmunity have been identified, generally involving common variants of modest effect. ► Many associations defined by GWAS are in non-coding regions and appear to regulate quantitative effects on gene expression. ► A large fraction of the common variants act through quantitative changes in thresholds for immune signaling and activation.