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Neuroinflammation

Synapses pruned in lupus

Nature volume 546, pages 482–483 (2017)Cite this article

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Lupus is an autoimmune disease that can cause brain dysfunction. Studies in mouse models of lupus find that interferon proteins can cause the brain's immune cells to trim the synaptic connections between neurons. See Letter p.539

Lupus is a complex autoimmune disease that can affect almost any organ in the body1. Brain dysfunction develops in many people with the disease, but the molecular and cellular basis for this aspect of the condition are poorly understood, and there are no therapies that target it. On page 539, Bialas et al.2 provide insight into how brain disease can occur in mouse models of lupus, and bring a potential therapeutic target into focus.

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Figure 1: Synaptic pruning in autoimmunity.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Anne Rowling Clinic and MRC Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, EH4 2XU, UK

    Sarah McGlasson & David Hunt

Authors
  1. Sarah McGlasson
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  2. David Hunt
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Hunt.

Additional information

UpdateThis News & Views article commented on a paper, entitled 'Microglia-dependent synapse loss in type I interferon-mediated lupus' (A. R. Bialas et al. Nature 546, 539–543; 2017), that has now been retracted.

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McGlasson, S., Hunt, D. Synapses pruned in lupus. Nature 546, 482–483 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature23087

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