Immune Landscape in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Dear Colleagues,

Neuroinflammation is a standing out feature and a likely contributor to neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, among others. Native central nervous system (CNS) cells, comprising microglia (major immune functions include cytokine production, phagocytosis), astrocytes [major immune functions include blood brain barrier (BBB)  maintenance, cytokine secretion, glial scar formation], ependydimal cells (major immune functions include the blood-cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) barrier (BCSFB) maintenance, pathogen surveillance, inflammatory signaling) and neurons [major immune functions include inflammatory signaling via citokynes, damage associated molecular patterns (DAMPS) and neurotransmitters/peptides] play key roles in neuroinflammation. Specifically, microglia/astrocytes have received significant attention as therapeutic targets. Importantly, there is a growing body of evidence implying peripheral immune cells, including neutrophils, basophils, monocytes, dendritic cells, Natural Killer (NK) cells and T cells,  in neuroinflammation processes underlying neurodegenerative disorders. Particularly, the central-peripheral immune crosstalk is an active area of research aiming to provide new disease-modifying strategies which remain an unmet need in this context.

Prof. Dr. Frederico Pereira
Prof. Dr. Cristoforo Comi
Prof. Dr. Marco Cosentino
Guest Editors

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