Therapeutic T-cell-based vaccination versus pharmacological intervention for neuroprotection: Restoring lost homeostasis

Under acute or chronic neurodegenerative conditions in the central nervous system (CNS), where surviving neurons are mortally threatened by progressive degeneration mediated by a toxic excess of normally beneficial self-compounds, neuroprotection is an important therapeutic target. Pharmacologically, this is attainable by increasing the neuronal resistance or disabling the toxicity mediators. Immunological neuroprotection, based on our discovery that the systemic immune system helps the CNS withstand degenerative conditions, requires well-controlled boosting of the peripheral T-cell response to injury, directed against self-antigens residing in the damaged site. The latter provides global protection against multiple threatening compounds.