Mutant SOD1 led to TNF-α pathway activation in the absence of inflammation in ALS (Carter et al., 2009), an event that may also occur in Schwann cells (Au and Yeh, 2007) based on the results of Traf2 up-regulation in ALS Schwann cells described in our work. The gene discussed is TNF; the disease is amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.