Topic: innate immunity

A century ago, Kolmer and Agduhr identified ciliated neurons in the spinal cord that contact cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) across vertebrate species. These neurons, called spinal CSF-contacting neurons (CSF-cNs), modulate locomotion and posture by detecting mechanical and chemical cues from the CSF. However, the mechanisms by which CSF-cNs detect and respond to CSF changes are unknown. In this study, we investigate whether CSF-cNs in larval zebrafish can detect and respond to pathological CSF changes induced by a ventricular injection of Streptococcus pneumoniae (S. pneumoniae), the major pathogen

It is well-established that stress impairs immunity, however, the precise underlying mechanisms remain elusive. We discovered that stress modulates the expression levels of acute-phase proteins (APPs), which broadly regulate physiological processes including innate immunity and homeostasis maintenance. APPs are traditionally associated with the inflammatory response and are commonly used as indicators for inflammation (e.g., CRP). We found that stress on its own can also affect APPs levels and that stress preceding an inflammatory challenge disrupts the typical APPs response. Importantly, we f

Toll-Like Receptor 4 (TLR4) is a relevant actor for innate immunity involved in inflammatory responses in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and other diseases. The currently available therapeutic arsenal to treat MS is composed of immunomodulators but, to date, there are no (re)myelinating drugs available in clinics. In the present work, we study the effect of TLR4 inhibition in different animal models of MS.The experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) model was used to evaluate the effect of TLR4 inhibition on reducing the inflammatory component. A more direct effect on oligodendroglia was studi