Issue Cover (July 2020)

Front cover: Vanishing white matter disease (VWM) is an autosomal recessive neurological disorder caused by mutation(s) in any subunit of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 2B (eIF2B), an activator of a translation initiation factor, eIF2. Toy mouse is a spontaneous mutant mouse strain that was identified by its small body, abnormal gait, male and female infertility, epileptic seizures, and shortening of the lifespan. A missense mutation of the Eif2b5 gene (C>G, I98M) was identified in the toy/Eif2b5 I98M mice. Histopathological analysis showed increased number of GFAP positive astrocytes and translocation of cerebellar Bergmann glia in the Eif2b5 I98M brain. Image content: Sagittal sections of Eif2b5 I98M cerebellum were immunostained using the glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) antibody (brown). Counterstaining was carried out using hematoxylin (deep blue‐purple). Bergmann glia were mislocalized to the molecular layer and were abnormally oriented with intense and thick GFAP‐positive processes.Read the full article   ‘Glial pathology in a novel spontaneous mutant mouse of the Eif2b5 gene: a vanishing white matter disease model’ by M. Terumitsu‐Tsujita, H. Kitaura, I. Miura, Y. Kiyama, F. Goto, Y. Muraki, S. Ominato, N. Hara, A. Simankova, N. Bizen, K. Kashiwagi, T. Ito, Y. Toyoshima, A. Kakita, T. Manabe, S. Wakana, H. Takebayashi, H. Igarashi, ( J. Neurochem. 2020, vol. 154 (1), pp. 25–40) on doi: 10.1111/jnc.14887