Overexpression of the Cytokine BAFF and Autoimmunity Risk

Maristella Steri¹, Valeria Orrù¹, M Laura Idda¹+78

• ¹From Istituto di Ricerca Genetica e Biomedica, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche Monserrato (M.S., V.O., M.L.I., M. Pitzalis, M. Pala, C.S., V.F., M.F., M. Deiana, I.A., E.P., A. Mulas, M.G.P., M. Lobina, S.L., Mara Marongiu, V.S., Michele Marongiu, G.S., F.B., A. Maschio, F.D., M. Dei, F.V., S.O., A.A., M.B.W., A. Meloni, S. Sanna, E.F., M.Z., F.C.), Center for Advanced Studies, Research, and Development in Sardinia, Parco Scientifico e Tecnologico della Sardegna (I.Z., M.F., R.C., G. Cuccuru), Struttura Complessa Disciplina di Ematologia e Centro Trapianto Cellule Staminali Emopoietiche Wilma Deplano, Ospedale Oncologico di Riferimento Regionale Armando Businco (M. Pani), Dipartimento di Sanità Pubblica, Medicina Clinica e Molecolare, Università di Cagliari (E.C., J.F., G. Coghe, L.L., G. Fenu), Azienda Ospedaliera Brotzu, S.C. Neurologia (P.F., M. Melis), Division of Rheumatology, University and University Hospital of Cagliari (M. Piga, A. Mathieu), Department of Medical Sciences M. Aresu, University of Cagliari (D.F., S.D.G., M.G.M.), Azienda Ospedaliera Brotzu, U.S. Gastroenterologia Pediatrica Ospedale Pediatrico Microcitemico A. Cao (M.C.), and Nephrology, Dialysis, and Transplantation Unit, Giuseppe Brotzu Hospital (A.P.), Cagliari, Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Università degli Studi di Sassari (M.F., F.P., F.C.), Unit of Neurology, Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, University of Sassari (G. Farina, G.R.), and Servizio Trasfusionale (M.A.S.) and Clinica Medica (A.D.), Azienda Ospedaliero Universitaria di Sassari, Sassari, Neurology B, Department of Neurological, Biomedical, and Movement Sciences, University of Verona, Verona (G. Farina), Department of Health Sciences, Interdisciplinary Research Center of Autoimmune Diseases, University of Eastern Piedmont, Novara (N.B., S.D.), SC Neurologia, Dipartimento di Scienze Mediche, Istituti di Ricovero e Cura a Carattere Scientifico (IRCCS) Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza, San Giovanni Rotondo (M. Leone), Don C. Gnocchi Foundation IRCCS (F.R.G.), and Referral Center for Systemic Autoimmune Diseases Fondazione IRCCS Cá Granda Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico and University of Milan (M. Marchini), Milan, and Dipartimento di Scienze Cliniche e Molecolari, Università Politecnica delle Marche e Ospedali Riuniti, Ancona (M.G.D.) - all in Italy; Laboratory of Genetics and Genomics, National Institute on Aging, National Institutes of Health, Baltimore (M.L.I., M.G., D.S.); the Department of Clinical Neurosciences (M.B., S. Sawcer) and JDRF-Wellcome Trust Diabetes and Inflammation Laboratory, National Institute for Health Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, Cambridge Institute for Medical Research (J.A.T.), University of Cambridge, Cambridge, United Kingdom; Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet at Karolinska University Hospital Solna (I.K., I.L.B., T.O., J.H.), Institute of Environmental Medicine (L.A.) and Institute of Environmental Medicine, Unit of Immunology and Chronic Disease (M.E.A.R.), Karolinska Institute, and Center for Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Stockholm County Council (L.A.), Stockholm; Department of Functional Biology, University of Oviedo, Oviedo (A.S.), Rheumatology Department, Hospital Universitario 12 de Octubre, Madrid (P.E.C.), Department of Internal Medicine, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Seville (M.J.C.-P.), Laboratorio de Investigacion 10 and Rheumatology Unit, Instituto de Investigacion Sanitaria-Hospital Clinico Universitario de Santiago, Santiago de Compostela (A.G.), and Centro de Genómica e Investigación Oncológica, Pfizer-Universidad de Granada-Junta de Andalucía, Granada (M.E.A.R.) - all in Spain; Department of Human Genetics, University of Chicago, Chicago (J.H.M., J.N.); Centro Hospitalar do Porto-Hospital Santo Antonio and Unit for Multidisciplinary Research in Biomedicine-Unidade Multidisciplinar de Investigação Biomédica, Porto, Portugal (B.M.S.); Departments of Pathology and Genetics, Stanford University, Stanford, CA (S.B.M.); and Center for Statistical Genetics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (G.R.A.).