Assault on the guardian

摘要

In multiple sclerosis, the immune system attacks 'self' tissues. Ten years after the discovery of one target of this autoimmunity, work with mice identifies it as a guardian protein produced in response to inflammation.rnOn page 474 of this issue, Ousman and her co-workers describe how autoimmunity to a protein known as αB-crystallin (CRYAB) can contribute to inflammatory injury of the central nervous system. They show that autoimmune attack on CRYAB does not directly cause tissue damage. Rather, it worsens the severity of damage by simultaneously eliminating two of the proteins functions — its action as a restraining element for inflammation, and its ability to inhibit programmed cell death of glial cells in the nervous system.