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A microglial cell is both a glial cell of the central nervous system and a mononuclear phagocyte, which belongs to the haematopoietic system and is involved in inflammatory and immune responses. As such, microglia face a challenging task. The neurons of the central nervous system cannot divide and be replenished, and therefore need to be protected against pathogens, which is a key role of the immune system, but without collateral damage. In addition, after physical injury, neural cells need restorative support, which is provided by inflammatory responses. Excessive or chronic inflammatory responses can, however, be harmful. How microglia balance these demands, and how their behaviour can be modified to ameliorate disorders of the central nervous system, is becoming clear., The central nervous system (CNS) is now thought to consist of three main cell types: neurons, glial cells and vascular cells. In the CNS parenchyma (the tissue proper, exclusive of [...]

Interactions between the B and T cells of the human immune system are implicated in the brain disease multiple sclerosis. It emerges that B cells make a protein that is also made in the brain, and that T cells recognize this protein.Interactions between B cells and T cells might trigger autoimmunity., Author(s): Richard M. RansohoffAuthor Affiliations:Immune-cell crosstalk in multiple sclerosis One factor linked[sup.3] [sup.,] [sup.4] to the risk of developing multiple sclerosis is the possession of a particular version of a [...]

In mammals, microglial cells of the central nervous system are responsible for the normal clearance of dead brain cells. TAM-receptor proteins have now been found to mediate this function. See [...]

In multiple sclerosis, the body's own immune cells attack the brain and spinal cord. But how they get there from peripheral tissues has been a mystery. Surprisingly, the lungs might [...]

The brain's ability to generate new neurons declines with age. This reduction is mediated by increased levels of an inflammatory factor in the blood of ageing mice and is associated with deficits in learning and memory, On the face of it, the production of new neurons in the adult mammalian brain (1,2) sounds like a good thing. Interventions that reduce neurogenesis in adulthood can be associated [...]

It has long been thought that epilepsy is mainly caused by structural changes in the central nervous system, without much input from outside this system. The blood-brain barrier has, however, [...]

The author discusses the role of the lungs as a key transit point for autoimmune cells that attack the central nervous system (CNS) in multiple sclerosis. The author mentions the study by F. Odoardi and colleagues within the issue which showed that inflammatory autoimmune cells settle first in the lungs before going into the CNS. According to the author, the study confirmed that tissue-resident immune memory cells also include autoimmune cells and not to pathogen-responsive populations alone.

The article discusses how the neurons generated by the brain declines the ageing. It examines the neurogenesis of the mouse brain in which based on the report by Villeda and colleagues, it classify the factor of the blood that could affect the cognitive function and neurogenesis in mice ageing It mentions that a surgical procedure is done called parabiosis on the young and old mice to connect the parabiotic pair and identify the chemokine protein CCL11 that lessen the neurogenesis.

The article discusses how brain inflammation begins before immune-cell entry. It says that for the inflammation and damage to start, T lymphocytes must enter the parenchyma of the central nervous system (CNS), but T cells bind to vessels of the blood-brain barrier only when inflammation activates the blood-vessel endothelium. It notes that studies of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), an animal model of multiple sclerosis, have been invaluable in shedding light on the mechanisms underlying CNS autoimmunity. One of its implications is that some of the events that result EAE-related tissue inflammation might also be involved in CNS immune surveillance, wherein T cells patrol the CNS to identify and destroy pathogens.