Rogue immune cells can infiltrate old brains
Killer T cells may dampen new nerve cell production in aged mice
Immune cells can storm into the brains of older mice, where these normally helpful cells seem to be up to no good. The result, described July 3 in Nature, raises the possibility that immune cells may have a role in aging.
Anne Brunet of Stanford University School of Medicine and colleagues studied gene activity to identify all sorts of cells in a particular spot in mice brains — the subventricular zone, where new nerve cells are born. Compared with young mice, old mice had many more killer T cells in that area. These immune system fighters take out damaged or infected cells in the rest of the body, but aren’t usually expected to show up in the brain.