New Genetic Clue to Lupus Is Found  A newly discovered immune-
system molecule may work against therapies targeting autoimmune
disease receptors image receptors image  Robert Kimberly,
University of Alabama at Birmingham   If the Birmingham
researchers are right, the gene could be a clue to improving
therapy for autoimmune diseases. At least one prominent
researcher has roundly criticized the putative lupus link,
however.  In a paper published December 18 in Science
Translational Medicine, the Alabama researchers said that
working copies of the fused gene disrupt a tidy feedback loop
that the immune system uses to regulate the production of
antibodies—molecules that are key players in immune responses to
disease-causing microorganisms.  In many autoimmune disorders
antibodies run amok, targeting not invading microbes, but a
person’s organs. Cells known as B lymphocytes, or B cells,
secrete the antibodies, and so the B cells make an attractive
target for therapies to control autoimmune conditions. Many
scientis