The late news on baff in autoimmune diseases

The B cell-activating factor of the tumor-necrosis factor family (BAFF) plays a dominant role in the B cell homeostasis. By rescuing autoreactive B cells, excessive BAFF favors the development of autoimmune diseases. Given the numbers of variants of this B cell-specific cytokine, caution must be exercized when determining its serum level. Alternate splice isoforms, such as Δ3 BAFF and Δ4 BAFF, have been identified. They raise the possibility that their overproduction impact the synthesis of full-length BAFF.