Key Points:
Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is characterized by immune system involvement and differences in the levels of specific types of immune cells. Murdock et al. found that natural killer (NK) immune cell levels were higher in people with ALS. Moreover, in ALS, NK cells were more “activated”, a state adopted by immune cells when attacking invading pathogens. However, these changes were dependent on sex. When NK cells were “deactivated” in an ALS mouse model, this increased the survival of female mice, but not male mice. These findings unlock a potential path forward for an immune-based treatment for ALS, which will need to be tested in clinical trials.
