title: Characterisation and expression analysis of B-cell activating factor (BAFF) in spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias): cartilaginous fish BAFF has a unique extra exon that may impact receptor binding.
abstract: B-cell activating factor (BAFF), also known as tumour necrosis factor (TNF) ligand superfamily member 13B, is an important immune regulator with critical roles in B-cell survival, proliferation, differentiation and immunoglobulin secretion. A BAFF gene has been cloned from spiny dogfish (Squalus acanthias) and its expression studied. The dogfish BAFF encodes for an anchored type-II transmembrane protein of 288 aa with a putative furin protease cleavage site and TNF family signature as seen in BAFFs from other species. The identity of dogfish BAFF has also been confirmed by conserved cysteine residues, and phylogenetic tree analysis. The dogfish BAFF gene has an extra exon not seen in teleost fish, birds and mammals that encodes for 29 aa and may impact on receptor binding. The dogfish BAFF is highly expressed in immune tissues, such as spleen, and is up-regulated by PWM in peripheral blood leucocytes, suggesting a potentially important role in the immune system.
authors.affiliation: Scottish Fish Immunology Research Centre, University of Aberdeen, Zoology Building, Tillydrone Avenue, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, Scotland, UK.
authors.forename: Ronggai
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Helen
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dooley
authors.forename: Tiehui
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Christopher J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Secombes
authors.forename: Steve
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bird
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D053264:B-Cell Activating Factor / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D001483:Base Sequence; D001773:Blood Cells / Q000276:immunology; D005091:Exons; D029941:Fish Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D048251:Squalus acanthias / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D053264:B-Cell Activating Factor; D029941:Fish Proteins