Using animal models, the researchers studied disease progression in mice in which NF - ƘB had been inhibited in two different cell types — astrocytes, the most abundant cell type in the human brain and supporters of neuronal function; and microglia, macrophages in the brain and spinal cord that act as the first and main form of defense against invading pathogens in the central nervous system. (sciencedaily.com)
Phylogenetic analysis and expression profiling of the pattern recognition receptors: Insights into molecular recognition of invading pathogens in Manduca sexta (btiscience.org)
Neuroscientist Saul Villeda of UCSF homed in on one actor he thought might be responsible for some of that effect: β2 microglobulin (B2M), an immune protein normally involved in distinguishing one's own cells from invading pathogens. (sciencemag.org)