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Put to sleep by immune cells

The sleep disorder narcolepsy is linked to immune-system genes and is caused by the loss of neurons that express the protein hypocretin. Hypocretin-targeting immune cells have now been found in people with narcolepsy.
  1. Roland S. Liblau

    1. Roland S. Liblau is at the Center for Physiopathology of Toulouse Purpan, University of Toulouse, CNRS, INSERM, Toulouse III University, Toulouse 31024, France.

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The events that lead to the sleep disorder narcolepsy are a long-standing mystery. Writing in Nature, Latorre et al.1 reveal that people with narcolepsy have unusually high levels of a type of immune cell called a T cell, which targets proteins normally present in neurons in the brain. This finding raises the question of whether narcolepsy arises because T cells unleash an autoimmune response against neurons that are important for sleep regulation.

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Nature 562, 46-48 (2018)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-018-06666-w

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Competing Interests

R.S.L. has received a grant from GSK.

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