In keeping with recent reports showing that Axl is one of the most abundant proteins in RA SF6 and is elevated in RA versus OA22, we demonstrated that sAxl is detectable in RA SF in excess to Gas6 and sMerTK, suggesting a role as a decoy for Gas6 due to Axl’s high affinity for this ligand23. The gene discussed is AXL; the disease is rheumatoid arthritis.