Sequence variation in promoter of Ica1 gene, which encodes protein implicated in type 1 diabetes, causes transcription factor autoimmune regulator (AIRE) to increase its binding and down-regulate expression.

ICA69 (islet cell autoantigen 69 kDa) is a protein implicated in type 1 diabetes mellitus in both the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse model and humans. ICA69 is encoded by the Ica1 gene on mouse chromosome 6 A1-A2. We previously reported reduced ICA69 expression in the thymus of NOD mice compared with thymus of several non-diabetic mouse strains.