Immunity to self and self-maintenance: a unified theory of brain pathologies.
Although there is a growing acceptance that immune cells could play a protective role under various injurious or pathological conditions of the central nervous system (CNS), the possibility that the immune system is constantly involved in day-to-day maintenance of CNS functional integrity has not been acknowledged. Here, we propose a unifying hypothesis, based on a recent collection of experimental results, suggesting that the loss of immunity to certain self-antigens or its insufficiency when encountering increased levels of risk factors is an important underlying factor in the onset or escalation of neurodegenerative processes, age-related dementia or mental dysfunction. We further suggest a model that explains how immunity to self exerts its roles in the special immune-privileged context of the CNS.
Schwartz
Michal
M
Department of Neurobiology, The Weizmann Institute of Science, 76100 Rehovot, Israel. Michal.schwartz@weizmann.ac.il
Ziv
Yaniv
Y
D000544:Alzheimer Disease / Q000276:immunology; D000818:Animals; D015551:Autoimmunity; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006706:Homeostasis; D006801:Humans; D007107:Immune System; D008607:Intellectual Disability / Q000276:immunology; D018448:Models, Immunological; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D017634:Self Tolerance