Gendelman sees obstacles ahead before the great potential of protective autoimmunity, as he describes it, can be exploited. "How this occurs is a big black box," he says. The positive evidence has piqued some biotech interest, though: Israel's Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is investigating Copaxone and a similar peptide in models of glaucoma and several other neurodegenerative conditions. If the company moves ahead with clinical trials, that black box may open up.

This article was originally published with the title T Cells for Brain Cells.

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