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ALS: life and death in a bad neighborhood

Nature Medicine volume 12, pages 885–887 (2006)Cite this article

The role of inflammatory mechanisms in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis is a hotly debated topic. Findings in a mouse model now add weight to arguments that targeting of inflammatory cells might be a fruitful therapeutic approach.

Our understanding of immunity in the central nervous system (CNS) lags well behind our understanding of it in the periphery. That lack of knowledge contributes to our poor understanding of many neurological diseases, which often have an immune component. For instance, activation of microglia, the resident immune effector cells in the CNS, occurs as a prominent feature early in CNS inflammation—and is a consistent finding in the common late-onset neurodegenerative disorders. These include the progressive paralytic disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)—sometimes known as motor neuron disease (MND).

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Figure 1: Microglia respond to several types of immunological alarm signals.

Kim Caesar

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  1. Academic Neurology Unit, University of Sheffield, UK

    Peter N Monk & Pamela J Shaw

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  1. Peter N Monk
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  2. Pamela J Shaw
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Monk, P., Shaw, P. ALS: life and death in a bad neighborhood. Nat Med 12, 885–887 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/nm0806-885

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