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Baff Binds to the Tumor Necrosis Factor Receptor–Like Molecule B Cell Maturation Antigen and Is Important for Maintaining the Peripheral B Cell Population

2000; Rockefeller University Press; Volume: 192; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1084/jem.192.1.129

1540-9538

Jeffrey S. Thompson, Pascal Schneider, Susan L. Kalled, Lichun Wang, Eric A. Lefèvre, Teresa G. Cachero, Fabienne Mackay, Sarah A. Bixler, Mohammad Zafari, Zhongying Liu, Stephen A. Woodcock, Fang Qian, Marcel Batten, Christine Madry, Yolande Richard, Christopher D. Benjamin, Jeffrey L. Browning, Andréas Tsapis, Jürg Tschopp, Christine Ambrose,

Immune Cell Function and Interaction

The tumor necrosis factor (TNF) family member B cell activating factor (BAFF) binds B cells and enhances B cell receptor-triggered proliferation. We find that B cell maturation antigen (BCMA), a predicted member of the TNF receptor family expressed primarily in mature B cells, is a receptor for BAFF. Although BCMA was previously localized to the Golgi apparatus, BCMA was found to be expressed on the surface of transfected cells and tonsillar B cells. A soluble form of BCMA, which inhibited the binding of BAFF to a B cell line, induced a dramatic decrease in the number of peripheral B cells when administered in vivo. Moreover, culturing splenic cells in the presence of BAFF increased survival of a percentage of the B cells. These results are consistent with a role for BAFF in maintaining homeostasis of the B cell population.