Cherish Ardinger, PhD (@cherishardinger.bsky.social)

𝘈𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘺𝘵𝘪𝘤 𝘙𝘐𝘗𝘒3 𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪-𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘴 Flaviviruses can cause fatal infections of the CNS; thus, a better understanding of flaviviral pathogenesis could help to identify potential therapeutic targets. Noting that the kinase RIPK3 plays a proinflammatory role in neurons during flavivirus infection, Lindman et al. used mouse models to investigate its role in astrocytes, which help to maintain the blood-brain barrier (BBB). During flavivirus infection of mice, RIPK3 stimulated the expression of Serpina3N in astrocytes, which limited immune cell recruitment into the CNS by promoting BBB integrity, thus increasing survival. Together, these findings suggest that astrocytic RIPK3 promotes host protection during CNS viral infections. —John F. Foley https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scisignal.adq6422