Next, we examined whether the eQTL SNPs affecting the expression levels in whole blood also influence expression levels in lymphoblastoid cell lines. We selected representative SNPs in eQTL regions and examined their effects on the expression of the corresponding gene in lymphoblastoid cell lines. The SNPs that showed the strongest correlation with the expression levels in whole blood for each eQTL region were selected for examination of the possible effects on expression levels in lymphoblastoid cell lines. If there were any additional eQTL SNPs in the same region that were not in LD with the selected SNP (r2<0.1), then one of the SNPs with the strongest correlation with the expression levels in whole blood was also selected. In the eQTL regions for MICA, MICB, HLA-DRB5, HLA-DQB1, and HLA-DQA2, 2 representative SNPs, which were not in significant LD with each other (r2<0.1), were selected. For other genes, the eQTL SNPs in the same eQTL region were in LD with each other (r2>0.1); therefore, 1 representative SNP was selected for each region. If the genotype data of the selected SNP were not
