RESEARCH: Inflammation in Neurodegenerative Disease - A Double-Edged Sword

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Neuron

Volume 35, Issue 3, 1 August 2002, Pages 419-432

Review

Inflammation in Neurodegenerative Disease - A Double-Edged Sword

Tony Wyss-Coray and Lennart Mucke

Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease and Department of Neurology,

University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA 94141, USA

Available online 6 August 2002.

Abstract

Inflammation is a defense reaction against diverse insults, designed to

remove noxious agents and to inhibit their detrimental effects. It consists

of a dazzling array of molecular and cellular mechanisms and an intricate

network of controls to keep them in check. In neurodegenerative diseases,

inflammation may be triggered by the accumulation of proteins with abnormal

conformations or by signals emanating from injured neurons. Given the

multiple functions of many inflammatory factors, it has been difficult to

pinpoint their roles in specific (patho)physiological situations. Studies of

genetically modified mice and of molecular pathways in activated glia are

beginning to shed light on this issue. Altered expression of different

inflammatory factors can either promote or counteract neurodegenerative

processes. Since many inflammatory responses are beneficial, directing and

instructing the inflammatory machinery may be a better therapeutic objective

than suppressing it.

Correspondence: Lennart Mucke, (phone), (fax);

e-mail: lmucke@...

Correspondence: Tony Wyss-Coray, (415) (phone), 826-6541

(fax); email: twysscoray@...

Neuron

Volume 35, Issue 3, 1 August 2002, Pages 419-432