Around Brain Vessels

White blood cells called perivascular [surrounding vessels] macrophages in the brain are involved in keeping the cerebrospinal fluid's make-up constant, orchestrating immune response and tissue repair, as well as being implicated in a range brain degenerative and vessel disorders. Here, studying a mouse model, tissue and human brain samples, researchers identify cMAF protein as a key regulator of the activity of these multi-tasking cells, thereby pinpointing a new target for treating neurodegenerative and cerebrovascular diseases

Read the published research article here

Written by Lindsey Goff

Lindsey Goff

Editor-in-Chief

Formerly immunologist for Cancer Research UK, Lindsey has since moved into the field of scientific publishing. She looks after all BPoD editorial matters.

• Image from work by Simone Brioschi, Julia A. Belk and Steffen E. Storckand, and colleagues
• Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine in Saint Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA
• Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)
• Published in Cell, August 2026