Brain cells can muster a protective response

In experiments published recently in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Brain Behavior and Immunity, researchers showed that dendritic cells native to the brain can muster the immune system's soldier T cells when confronted by certain threats. "We knew they were there and now we know they are immunologically functional," says Karen Bulloch, director of Rockefeller's Neuroimmunology and Inflammation Program. Release