New hope for stroke therapy

Stroke is the third most common cause of death in the western world and the most important single cause of severe disability. Treatment within 6-8 hours greatly increases the chance of survival by preventing cell-mediated death. Apoptotic-receptor systems are thought to determine stroke-related damage in the brain, but the mechanisms involved remain largely unknown. In July Cell Death and Differentiation Martin-Villalba and colleagues at the German Cancer Research Centre, Heidelberg show that blocking apoptosis receptors CD95-ligand and TNF R1 dramatically improves survival and reduces disability in mice after stroke.

Martin-Villalba et al. exposed mice deficient for TNF (tnf-/-) or functional CD95L (gld) to brain ischaemia and found that they were protected against this kind of damage. In addition, treatment of wild-type mice following induction of ischaemia with antibodies against TNF and CD95L diminished infarct volumes and significantly improved survival of the animals. Intact functionality of rescued neurons in vivo was ...