As part of an ongoing search for genes associated with type 1 diabetes (T1D), a common autoimmune disease, we tested the biological candidate gene IL2RA (CD25), which encodes a subunit (IL-2Rα) of the high-affinity interleukin-2 (IL-2) receptor complex. We employed a tag single-nucleotide polymorphism (tag SNP) approach in large T1D sample collections consisting of 7,457 cases and controls and 725 multiplex families. Tag SNPs were analyzed using a multilocus test to provide a regional test for association. We found strong statistical evidence in the case-control collection (P=6.5×10−8) for a T1D locus in the CD25 region of chromosome 10p15 and replicated the association in the family collection (P=7.3×10−3; combined P=1.3×10−10). These results illustrate the utility of tag SNPs in a chromosome-regional test of disease association and justify future fine mapping of the causal variant in the region.
