CNS Immunity – Paradox of Maintenance, Repair and Destruction

  • 387

    Total views and downloads

About this Research Topic

Submission deadlines

  1. Manuscript Summary Submission Deadline 31 July 2025 | Manuscript Submission Deadline 30 November 2025

  2. This Research Topic is still accepting articles.

Background

CNS was primarily designated as an immune privileged site. However, last fifty years showed tremendous growth of understanding of immune functioning within brain. Though, Rio Hortega, a century ago, first described microglia as the resident immune cells of brain, the understanding of immune function in brain gained momentum only in last two decades of the last century. With the beginning of present century scientists were found aided with technologies of live imaging of cells in brain, and started to analyze them using next-gen technology of single-cell omics. They are now capable of selectively probing cells in brain or can develop 3D model of miniature brain in vitro and many more. All these technological advancements produce a lot of information on the immune components of brain and their functions which are directly or indirectly related to human ailments. Therefore, a research on contemporary information with a specific focus area or goal will be a much-required endeavor to understand the progress and its practical significance.

This Research Topic aims to collect a focus specific and goal-oriented information on recent advancements in basic research on neuroimmunology. From the beginning of this century, focus has been made on classical problems of neurodegenerative disorders, or neurovirology, or brain tumor immunology, or identifying the lineages of immune cells in brain, or blood-brain-barrier biology and peripheral-CNS immune cross-talk. But lately researchers shifted their focuses in some newer areas: finding the role of brain immunity in psychiatric disorders, function of CNS immune components in memory formation or retention, or involvement of neuroimmune components in higher order behavior and cognitive functions, in-depth analysis of evolutionary distribution pattern of brain immune cells, role of microbiota in shaping neuroimmune functions and many more. These are having significant impact in future understanding CNS function and in practice.

Present volume will be intended to accumulate the current information of these ground-breaking understanding on basic aspects of neuroimmune system and function. These are related to the housekeeping activities in CNS and their perturbations, which may have significant consequences in CNS health and disease. The areas of this volume will be focused on – how the CNS immune components communicate with peripheral immune axis, their spaciotemporal movements and functions during development, maturity and maintenance of CNS, their roles in higher order brain functions and disorders etc. Also, we may emphasize on how they can control and become controlled in perturbed conditions under pathogenic and non-pathogenic threats, or their role in neuro-endocrine function or whether they may have any interactions with microbiota etc.

This Research Topic accepts Original Research, Brief Research Report, Data Report, Case Report, Methods, Systemic Review, Mini-Review, Conceptual Analysis, Commentary and Opinion. We welcome manuscripts focusing on, but not limited to, the following sub-topics:

• Lineage and polarity of microglia and brain macrophage

• Spaciotemporal patterning of microglia in development and maturity

• Neuronal circuitry maintenance and immune cells

• Role of immune cells in memory formation and maintenance

• Neuroimmune components and cognitive functions

• Dynamic blood-brain-barrier as cross-road of peripheral to neuronal immunity

• Glioblastoma and neuroimmune cells – the Yin-Yang

• CNS autoimmunity – developmental intricacies of the disorder

• Microbiota and CNS immune cells – functional and developmental consequences

• CNS immunity and Neuro-endocrine function modulation

• Evolutionary cross-section of CNS immunity

Contributors are requested to develop their manuscript as per the thrust area of this theme. Topics, not mentioned in the focuses, but related to the theme may also be considered.
With this Research Topic, we hope to create an interesting collection of cutting-edge information contributing to the futuristic understanding of the whole system of immunity in brain

Research Topic Research topic image

Article types and fees

This Research Topic accepts the following article types, unless otherwise specified in the Research Topic description:

  • Brief Research Report
  • Case Report
  • Classification
  • Clinical Trial
  • Data Report
  • Editorial
  • General Commentary
  • Hypothesis and Theory
  • Methods

Articles that are accepted for publication by our external editors following rigorous peer review incur a publishing fee charged to Authors, institutions, or funders.

Keywords: CNS, Microglia, Macrophage, lymphocytes, Blood-brain-barrier, Neuroimmune, Neuronal circuitry, Cognition, Memory, Glioblastoma, Neuro-endocrine, CNS autoimmunity

Important note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.

Topic editors

Frequently asked questions

  • Frontiers' Research Topics are collaborative hubs built around an emerging theme.Defined, managed, and led by renowned researchers, they bring communities together around a shared area of interest to stimulate collaboration and innovation.

    Unlike section journals, which serve established specialty communities, Research Topics are pioneer hubs, responding to the evolving scientific landscape and catering to new communities.

  • The goal of Frontiers' publishing program is to empower research communities to actively steer the course of scientific publishing. Our program was implemented as a three-part unit with fixed field journals, flexible specialty sections, and dynamically emerging Research Topics, connecting communities of different sizes and maturity.

    Research Topics originate from the scientific community. Many of our Research Topics are suggested by existing editorial board members who have identified critical challenges or areas of interest in their field.

  • As an editor, Research Topics will help you build your journal, as well as your community, around emerging, cutting-edge research. As research trailblazers, Research Topics attract high-quality submissions from leading experts all over the world.

    A thriving Research Topic can potentially evolve into a new specialty section if there is sustained interest and a growing community around it.

  • Each Research Topic must be approved by the specialty chief editor, and it falls under the editorial oversight of our editorial boards, supported by our in-house research integrity team. The same standards and rigorous peer review processes apply to articles published as part of a Research Topic as for any other article we publish.

    In 2023, 80% of the Research Topics we published were edited or co-edited by our editorial board members, who are already familiar with their journal's scope, ethos, and publishing model. All other topics are guest edited by leaders in their field, each vetted and formally approved by the specialty chief editor.

  • Publishing your article within a Research Topic with other related articles increases its discoverability and visibility, which can lead to more views, downloads, and citations. Research Topics grow dynamically as more published articles are added, causing frequent revisiting, and further visibility.

    As Research Topics are multidisciplinary, they are cross-listed in several fields and section journals – increasing your reach even more and giving you the chance to expand your network and collaborate with researchers in different fields, all focusing on expanding knowledge around the same important topic.

    Our larger Research Topics are also converted into ebooks and receive social media promotion from our digital marketing team.

  • Frontiers offers multiple article types, but it will depend on the field and section journals in which the Research Topic will be featured. The available article types for a Research Topic will appear in the drop-down menu during the submission process.

    Check available article types here 

  • Yes, we would love to hear your ideas for a topic. Most of our Research Topics are community-led and suggested by researchers in the field. Our in-house editorial team will contact you to talk about your idea and whether you’d like to edit the topic. If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. 

    Suggest your topic here 

  • A team of guest editors (called topic editors) lead their Research Topic. This editorial team oversees the entire process, from the initial topic proposal to calls for participation, the peer review, and final publications.

    The team may also include topic coordinators, who help the topic editors send calls for participation, liaise with topic editors on abstracts, and support contributing authors. In some cases, they can also be assigned as reviewers.

  • As a topic editor (TE), you will take the lead on all editorial decisions for the Research Topic, starting with defining its scope. This allows you to curate research around a topic that interests you, bring together different perspectives from leading researchers across different fields and shape the future of your field. 

    You will choose your team of co-editors, curate a list of potential authors, send calls for participation and oversee the peer review process, accepting or recommending rejection for each manuscript submitted.

  • As a topic editor, you're supported at every stage by our in-house team. You will be assigned a single point of contact to help you on both editorial and technical matters. Your topic is managed through our user-friendly online platform, and the peer review process is supported by our industry-first AI review assistant (AIRA).

  • If you’re an early-stage researcher, we will offer you the opportunity to coordinate your topic, with the support of a senior researcher as the topic editor. This provides you with valuable editorial experience, improving your ability to critically evaluate research articles and enhancing your understanding of the quality standards and requirements for scientific publishing, as well as the opportunity to discover new research in your field, and expand your professional network.

  • Yes, certificates can be issued on request. We are happy to provide a certificate for your contribution to editing a successful Research Topic.

  • Research Topics thrive on collaboration and their multi-disciplinary approach around emerging, cutting-edge themes, attract leading researchers from all over the world.

  • As a topic editor, you can set the timeline for your Research Topic, and we will work with you at your pace. Typically, Research Topics are online and open for submissions within a few weeks and remain open for participation for 6 – 12 months. Individual articles within a Research Topic are published as soon as they are ready.

    Find out more about our Research Topics

  • Our fee support program ensures that all articles that pass peer review, including those published in Research Topics, can benefit from open access – regardless of the author's field or funding situation.

    Authors and institutions with insufficient funding can apply for a discount on their publishing fees. A fee support application form is available on our website.

  • In line with our mission to promote healthy lives on a healthy planet, we do not provide printed materials. All our articles and ebooks are available under a CC-BY license, so you can share and print copies.

Manuscripts can be submitted to this Research Topic via the main journal or any other participating journal.

Impact

  • 387Topic views
View impact