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Abstract
BAFF and its receptors play a crucial role in peripheral B cell selection and survival,
by dictating the set point for mature primary B cell numbers and adjusting thresholds
for specificity-based selection during transitional differentiation. The notion that
selective stringency can be varied on the basis of homeostatic demands reveals a previously
unappreciated degree of plasticity in B cell tolerance, and suggests a paradigm that
unites peripheral negative and positive selection with the maintenance of mature B
cell numbers. Moreover, it implies a developmentally regulated coupling of BCR and
BAFF receptors at the transitional stages and beyond.