The Role of Immune Cells in Multiple Sclerosis

Dear Colleagues,

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a complex chronic inflammatory demyelinating disease of the central nervous system (CNS). One of the fundamental pathomechanisms involves the activation of myelin-specific autoreactive T cells, which in turn initiate a cell- and humoral-mediated immune response in the CNS. Accordingly, past therapeutic interventions mainly focused on the depletion or blockade of lymphocytes. However, recent evidence obtained from new genetically modified animal models and high-dimensional single-cell technologies has indicated a much more complex picture of MS pathophysiology. These methodologies uncovered Th17 cells as the main pathogenic lymphocyte subset due to the release of the effector cytokine GM-CSF, which plays a critical role in the instruction of tissue-destructive monocytes. Further, dendritic cells, natural killer cells, microglia, and other immune cells have been shown to contribute to disease progression. On top of these organism-intrinsic factors, environmental parameters such as diet, fasting, and a deregulated circadian rhythm also have an effect on immune cell functions and indirectly influence the course of disease.

These data show that MS is a multifaceted disease in which more than one immune cell population is involved in tissue damage. Accordingly, in this Special Issue, we would like to collect review articles that summarize the current knowledge of immunological components of MS. Our goal is to provide the reader with a wide range of immune cell activities and how these cells influence the disease course of MS.

Dr. Alexander Mildner
Dr. Chotima Böttcher
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.