The Role of the Immune System in Neurodegenerative Diseases

Call for Papers

Neuroinflammation is a pathological hallmark of many neurodegenerative disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease (PD), or Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in which sites of neuronal injury are associated with infiltrating immune cells. Whether neuroinflammation is a cause or a consequence of neuronal cell death is still debated. However, accumulative evidence suggests that immune cells mediate both protective and deleterious effects on neurons and that these functions could be regulated in a space- and time-dependent manner. A better understanding of the different subpopulations of infiltrating immune cells and their respective roles during the neurodegenerative process will help to develop innovative treatments for these devastating diseases.

We invite investigators to contribute original research articles as well as review articles that will help to decipher the role of both the innate and adaptative immune system in the pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases and stimulate the development of novel treatment strategies. We are interested in articles describing (1) how neuroimmunity contributes to the protection as well as the selective death of a specific population of neurons in various neurodegenerative disorders including AD, PD, or motoneuron disease, (2) the role of resident brain cells versus infiltrated cells in mediating neuroinflammation, and (3) what are the therapeutic perspectives emerging from the interaction between nervous and immune systems. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Role of the innate immune system in neurodegenerative diseases
• Role of the adaptative immune system in neurodegenerative diseases
• Role of immune regulatory cells in neurodegenerative diseases
• Crosstalk between glial cells, immune cells, and neurons
• Advances in disease mechanisms from model systems
• Immune modulation for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases
• Current concepts for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases using cell therapy

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/cdi/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/author/submit/journals/cdi/neurod/ according to the following timetable:

Lead Guest Editor

• Thierry Vincent, Department of Immunology, Saint Eloi Hospital, Montpellier, France

Guest Editors

• Cédric Raoul, Neuroscience Institute of Montpellier, Saint Eloi Hospital, Montpellier, France
• William Camu, ALS Center, Department of Neurology, Gui de Chauliac Hospital, Montpellier, France
• Ana Martin-Villalba, Department of Molecular Neurobiology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany
• Dan Frenkel, The Department of Neurobiology, The George S. Wise Faculty of Life Sciences and Sagol School of Neuroscience, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel