Fibrinogen promotes autoimmunity and demyelination via chemokine release and antigen presentation [Rn]

Determination of the mechanism by which fibrinogen, a central blood coagulation protein drives immunological responses targeted to the CNS. Results identify the factors involved in the regulation and provide mechanistic basis. We subjected fibrin-stimulated microglia to microarray to determine the genes involved in innate and adaptive immune responses by fibrinogen deposited in the CNS after blood-brain barrier disruption. Rat microglia were stimulated with fibrin for 6 hr and subjected for RNA extraction and hybridization on Affymatrix microarrays. Two unstimulated and two fibrin-stimulated samples were generated.