SFB-TRR 43: The brain as a target of inflammatory processes (Collaborative Research Project)

Recent paradigm shifts in our understanding of pathologies of the central nervous system (CNS) call for elucidation of the underlying molecular processes. It has become evident that classical inflammatory disorders of the CNS such as multiple sclerosis and meningitis target the neuroaxonal compartment, an aspect which has been neglected for over a century. Moreover, evidence is growing for a fundamental role of both innate and adaptive immunity in pathologies which have not hitherto been regarded as inflammatory, such as stroke – both ischemic and hemorrhagic – and axonal/neuronal injury due to traumatic or degenerative causes.

In this SFB researchers from Berlin and Göttingen have come together to take up the challenges of this emerging field, by combining the efforts of clinicians and basic scientists, neuroimmunologists and neurobiologists. The key questions we seek to answer are as follows:

• Under what circumstances and by what mechanisms do immune cells enter the CNS and interact with, or even attack, local neural cells?
• Does the involvement of the immune system in different pathologies result in additional damage or does it, in specific situations, promote repair, and if so, what are the molecular processes of immune-mediated damage and repair within the CNS?