Parkinson's disease and the Brain's immune system

A new study by Dr Marine Krzisch has identified the role of the brain's immune system in Parkinson's disease. Microglia are brain cells that defend the brain against pathogens. In Parkinson’s disease, microglia get activated: they become hyper-alert, and it is thought they damage neurons. However, their exact role had remained unclear. In this study, they showed that, when stimulated, human microglia carrying a mutation involved in early-onset Parkinson’s are more activated than microglia that do not carry the mutation. These results suggest that this mutation makes microglia more toxic to neurons, which likely contributes to disease progression.