CNS innate immune cells sense pathogen/injury stimuli and co-ordinate inflammatory and tissue repair responses to protect and repair neurologic tissues. The major innate immune cells in the CNS were originally thought to be microglia, infiltrating monocytes and astrocytes but mast cells and innate lymphoid cells are now also known to play important roles. Disbalance in innate immune cells or their function may result in the lack of inflammation resolution, leading to chronic inflammatory maladaptive responses and disease.

The study of innate immune cells in the CNS has revealed that innate immune cells regulate the recruitment of immune cells, adaptive immune responses and neuronal regeneration or death. These effects influence Multiple Sclerosis, spinal cord and brain injury recovery, as well as changes in stress and behavioral responses. Understanding how each cell contributes to molecular and cellular processes that impinge on neuroinflammation will be essential to devise strategies to diagnose or treat conditions such as CNS autoimmunity, traumatic brain injury, spinal cord injury, infections, Alzheimer’s disease and cancer among others.

This Research Topic will provide a comprehensive overview of our current understanding of the mechanisms that modulate innate immune cell-driven CNS inflammatory/regulatory processes and their impact on CNS inflammatory disease pathogenesis, diagnosis and/or treatment. We seek articles that cover, but are not limited to, the following topics:

1. Molecular mechanisms driving inflammatory macrophages/microglia/astrocytes.
2. Role of microglia and infiltrating monocytes in inflammatory processes associated with CNS disease (i.e. viral encephalitis, spinal cord injury, traumatic brain injury, glioblastoma, Alzheimer’s disease, Multiple Sclerosis, stress, behavior etc.).
3. Role of astrocytes in inflammatory processes associated with CNS disease.
4. Role of mast cells and innate immune cells in inflammatory processes associated with CNS disease.
5. Novel strategies for the diagnosis or treatment of CNS neuroinflammatory disease based on molecular inflammatory changes in innate immune cells.

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Frontiers in Immunology

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