CD4 + T cells contribute to neurodegeneration in Lewy body dementia

Authors: David Gate, Emma Tapp, Olivia Leventhal, Marian Shahid, Tim J. Nonninger, Andrew C. Yang, Katharina Strempfl, Michael S. Unger, Tobias Fehlmann, Hamilton Oh, Divya Channappa, Victor W. Henderson, Andreas Keller, Ludwig Aigner, Douglas Galasko, Mark M. Davis, Kathleen L. Poston, Tony Wyss‐Coray - Science 2021 cited by 221

Autoimmunity in Lewy body dementia Lewy body dementia (LBD) is a brain disease that leads to progressive decline in thinking, movement, and independent function. It results from the build-up of microscopic deposits called Lewy bodies, which develop from the aggregation of a misfolded protein called α-synuclein. Gate et al . observed immune cells known as T cells in the brains of LBD patients (see the Perspective by Krot and Rolls). Genomics analysis revealed that T cells traffic to the LBD brain and are associated with neuronal damage. When stimulated with α-synuclein, LBD patient T cells secrete an inflammatory protein known to damage neurons. These findings suggest an unexpected detrimental role of the immune system in LBD. —SMH