Inflammation to Rebuild a Brain

The overarching strategy of all immune systems is as predictable as the plot of an episode of Mission: Impossible. A short-lived message describing the problem reaches commanding immune cells. A team of specialized expert cells is then dispatched to deal with the problem. Once successfully addressed...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inScience (American Association for the Advancement of Science) Vol. 338; no. 6112; pp. 1303 - 1304
Main Author Stella, Nephi
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington American Association for the Advancement of Science 07.12.2012
The American Association for the Advancement of Science
Subjects
Brain
Brain damage
Danio rerio
Executioners
Immune system
Immune systems
Inflammation
Injuries
Macrophages
Messages
Microglia
Molecular biology
Neurobiology
Neurogenesis
Neuroglia
Neurons
PERSPECTIVES
Phenotypes
Progenitor cells
Repair
Strategy
Switches
Zebrafish
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Summary:The overarching strategy of all immune systems is as predictable as the plot of an episode of Mission: Impossible. A short-lived message describing the problem reaches commanding immune cells. A team of specialized expert cells is then dispatched to deal with the problem. Once successfully addressed, the team disappears without leaving a trace. On page 1353 of this issue, Kyritsis et al. (1) characterize an astonishing type of immune response-a new team of "executioner" cells-that is implemented when the zebrafish brain is injured. By tricking the immune system into believing neuronal injury had occurred, the authors discovered that inflammation alone is sufficient to switch on neurogenesis. The molecular components used by the highly specialized immune cells that promote neurogenesis represent potential novel therapeutic targets that could promote brain repair.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-1
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ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.1232331