Word: microglia
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...essence, the brain perceives microscopic shards of beta amyloid as foreign bodies, and primitive immune cells called microglia that serve as biological garbage collectors valiantly and continuously try to clear them away. The result is a state of chronic inflammation that progressively injures nearby nerve cells. Among the powerful weapons the brain's immune system brings to bear are oxygen-free radicals, which is one reason many think that antioxidants like vitamin E may be helpful...
...Just as [HIV] invades the body's white blood cells, it is able to infiltrate similar cells in the brain, called microglia, quite effectively," Gabuzda says...
Unlike in the body, where HIV only destroys immune cells, Gabuzda says that the infection of microglia--the brain's counterpart to white blood cells--is responsible for the release of neurotoxins, which damage neurons...
Gabuzda used this discovery to try to find out if any of these proteins allowed HIV into microglia. She found that CCR5, and another protein--CCR3--are part of the complex that is the brain's gate...
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