CD40 and multiple sclerosis: However, its role in neurological disease of non-infectious etiology has recently gained the attention of neuroscientists and neurooncologists, as the aberrant expression of CD40 can be either (1) detrimental to the survival of neural tissue, for example, in autoimmune neurological disorders such as multiple sclerosis, or (2) beneficial in activating the immune cells necessary for tumor cell lysis.