Cytokines in CNS Inflammation and Disease

A growing number of increasingly sophisticated studies over the past two decades have implicated key immune regulatory factors in CNS function and disease. Chief among those factors are cytokines, which were originally described to regulate communication between immune cells. The purpose of this chapter is to review what is known regarding normal expression of key cytokines and their receptors in the CNS as well as their roles in development and disease. We will focus in particular on tumor necrosis factor α (TNF), transforming growth factor β (TGF-β), interleukin 1 (IL-1), IL-6, IL-10 and IL-12. We will discuss how these cytokines modulate not only normal CNS function but how abnormal cytokine signaling may contribute to major acute and chronic CNS diseases. We will rely heavily on studies in experimental mouse models that overproduce or ablate these cytokines and discuss the potential therapeutic benefits from ‘proof-of-concept’ targeting studies of specific cytokines in the treatment of CNS diseases.