Feb. 12, 2002 Researchers at National Jewish Medical and
Research Center who are studying a protein implicated in the
development of lupus and rheumatoid arthritis have discovered a
unique “flap” that is crucial to the protein’s function. When
they created a flap-free version of the molecule, it engaged
receptors but triggered no biological activity. The findings,
reported in the February 8 issue of Cell, provide insight into
an important immune-system protein and suggest that the flap-
free version may one day serve as a treatment for various
autoimmune diseases. The molecule, known variously as Tall-1,
BlyS, BAFF, THANK and zTNF4, has generated intense interest in
the biomedical community because of its role in both
autoimmunity and the normal immune response. “Our studies have
revealed the structural element crucial to Tall-1’s ability to
trigger maturation of B cells and antibody production,” said
Gongyi Zhang, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Immunology at
National Jewish. “By removing Tall-1’s unique flap,