Although macrophages are known as essential players in wound healing, their contribution to recovery from spinal cord injury is a subject of debate. Using a mouse model of spinal injury, Michal Schwartz and colleagues from the Weizmann institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel tested the effect of macrophages on the recovery process after injury and demonstrate an important anti-inflammatory role for a subset of infiltrating monocyte-derived macrophages that is dependent upon their expression of the anti-inflammatory molecule interleukin-10. These results suggest that this subset of macrophages may have a beneficial effect on spinal cord injuries.
Funding: MS holds the Maurice and Ilse Katz Professorial Chair in Neuroimmunology. The work was supported in part by the High Q Foundation, an NRSAD award, ERC award, and by IsrALS, given to MS. This work was supported also by the Israel Science Foundation, given to MS and SJ. SJ was supported by the MINERVA Foundation and by a joint ISF Bio-Med research grant, and is the incumbent of the Pauline Recanati Career Development Chair. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Citation: Shechter R, London A, Varol C, Raposo C, Cusimano M, et al. (2009) Infiltrating Blood-Derived Macrophages Are Vital Cells Playing an Anti-inflammatory Role in Recovery from Spinal Cord Injury in Mice. PLoS Med 6(7): e1000113. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000113
IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER: http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=1000113
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-06-07-schwartz.pdf
EDITORS' SUMMARY: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-06-07-schwartz-summary.pdf
CONTACTS:
Michal Schwartz
Weizmann institute of Science
Neurobiology Dept
Rehovot, 76100
Israel
972-8-9342467
972-8-9346018 (fax)
Michal.Schwartz@weizmann.ac.il
In Other news:
The Preclinical Natural History of Serious Ovarian Cancer: Defining the Target for Early Detection
Ovarian cancer kills approximately 15,000 women in the United States every year, and more than 140,000 women worldwide. Most deaths from ovarian cancer are caused by tumors of the serous histological type, which are rarely diagnosed before the cancer has spread. In order to better understand the early natural history and to guide rational design of an early detection strategy for these cancers, Patrick Brown and colleagues from Stanford University developed models for the growth, progression, and detection of these cancers, in order to define what properties a biomarker-based screening test would require in order to be clinically useful.
Funding: This work was funded by the Canary Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Citation: Brown PO, Palmer C (2009) The Preclinical Natural History of Serous Ovarian Cancer: Defining the Target for Early Detection. PLoS Med 6(7): e1000114. doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000114
IN YOUR COVERAGE PLEASE USE THIS URL TO PROVIDE ACCESS TO THE FREELY AVAILABLE PAPER: http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document&doi=10000114
PRESS-ONLY PREVIEW OF THE ARTICLE: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-06-07-brown.pdf
EDITORS’ SUMMARY: http://www.plos.org/press/plme-06-07-brown-summary.pdf
CONTACTS:
Dr. Patrick O. Brown
Stanford University
Biochemistry
279 Campus Dr B400
Stanford, CA 94305
United States of America
650-723-0005
650-725-7811 (fax)
pbrown@stanford.edu
Kirsta Conger
Press Officer
Stanford University Medical Center
+1 650-725-5371
kristac@stanford.edu
Journal
PLoS Medicine