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Progress in inflammatory neuropathy —the legacy of Dr Jack Griffin

Nature Reviews Neurology volume 11, pages 646–650 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

The past quarter of a century has brought incredible advances in our understanding of inflammatory neuropathies, and the insights into Guillain–Barré syndrome (GBS) began in the 1990s with the seminal work of Dr Jack Griffin and his colleagues. In this essay, we provide a tribute to Jack, and review the recent progress in a field that he termed his personal favourite. In particular, we discuss the new developments in our understanding and diagnosis of inflammatory neuropathies, the recent emergence of the node of Ranvier and the paranode as sites of intensive investigation, and the mechanistic evidence that is providing a platform for therapeutic development studies.

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Figure 1: Jack Griffin at Johns Hopkins in 2010.
Figure 2: The peripheral nerve nodal complex as an autoimmune target.

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank Dr Stacey Sakowski Jacoby for her expert editorial assistance. E.L.F. is supported by the Program for Neurology Research and Discovery and the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute. H.J.W. is supported by the Wellcome Trust.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology and the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute, University of Michigan, 109 Zina Pitcher Place, 5017 AAT-BSRB, Ann Arbor, 48109, MI, USA

    Eva L. Feldman

  2. MRC Centre for Neuromuscular Disease, Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, London, WC1N 3BG, UK

    Richard A. C. Hughes

  3. College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow Biomedical Research Centre, Room B330, 120 University Place, Glasgow, G12 8TA, UK

    Hugh J. Willison

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  1. Eva L. Feldman
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All authors researched data for the article, made substantial contributions to discussions of the content, wrote the article, and reviewed and edited the manuscript before submission.

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Correspondence to Eva L. Feldman.

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Feldman, E., Hughes, R. & Willison, H. Progress in inflammatory neuropathy —the legacy of Dr Jack Griffin. Nat Rev Neurol 11, 646–650 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2015.192

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