Furthermore, the up-regulation of H2afx in Schwann cells might correlate with the described Schwann cell participation in the pathogenesis of ALS since H2AFX-induced DNA damage in reactive astrocytes has been associated with impaired paracrine glial functions in other neurodegenerative disorder (Simpson et al., 2010). The gene discussed is H2AX; the disease is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.