A somatic mutation in erythro-myeloid progenitors causes neurodegenerative disease

The pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases is poorly understood and there are few therapeutic options. Neurodegenerative diseases are characterized by progressive neuronal dysfunction and loss, and chronic glial activation¹. Whether microglial activation, which is generally viewed as a secondary process, is harmful or protective in neurodegeneration remains unclear^{1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8}. Late-onset neurodegenerative disease observed in patients with histiocytoses^{9, 10, 11, 12}, which are clonal myeloid diseases associated with somatic mutations in the RAS–MEK–ERK pathway such as BRAF(V600E)^{13, 14, 15, 16, 17-Abstract Truncated-}