TY - JOUR T1 - Meningeal lymphoid structures are activated under acute and chronic spinal cord pathologies JF - Life Science Alliance JO - Life Sci. Alliance DO - 10.26508/lsa.202000907 VL - 4 IS - 1 SP - e202000907 AU - Merav Cohen AU - Amir Giladi AU - Catarina Raposo AU - Mor Zada AU - Baoguo Li AU - Julia Ruckh AU - Aleksandra Deczkowska AU - Boaz Mohar AU - Ravid Shechter AU - Rachel G Lichtenstein AU - Ido Amit AU - Michal Schwartz Y1 - 2021/01/01 UR - https://www.life-science-alliance.org/content/4/1/e202000907.abstract N2 - Tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) are organized aggregates of B and T cells formed ectopically during different stages of life in response to inflammation, infection, or cancer. Here, we describe formation of structures reminiscent of TLS in the spinal cord meninges under several central nervous system (CNS) pathologies. After acute spinal cord injury, B and T lymphocytes locally aggregate within the meninges to form TLS-like structures, and continue to accumulate during the late phase of the response to the injury, with a negative impact on subsequent pathological conditions, such as experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Using a chronic model of spinal cord pathology, the mSOD1 mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, we further showed by single-cell RNA-sequencing that a meningeal lymphocyte niche forms, with a unique organization and activation state, including accumulation of pre-B cells in the spinal cord meninges. Such a response was not found in the CNS-draining cervical lymph nodes. The present findings suggest that a special immune response develops in the meninges during various neurological pathologies in the CNS, a possible reflection of its immune privileged nature. ER -