Examination of inflammatory transcripts during a transfer model of type I diabetes.

In an accompanying paper we found specific localization of diabetogenic T cells only to islets of Langerhans bearing the specific antigen. Instrumental in the specific localization was the presence of intra-islet dendritic cells bearing the -cell-peptide-MHC complex. Here we report that the entry of diabetogenic CD4 T cells very rapidly triggered inflammatory gene expression changes in islets and vessels by up-regulating chemokines and adhesion molecules. VCAM-1 expression was notable in blood vessels and so was ICAM-1. ICAM-1 was also found on -cells. These expression changes induced the entry of non-specific T cells that otherwise did not localize to the islets. In contrast to the entry of diabetogenic CD4 T cells, the entrance of non-specific T cells required a chemokine response and VCAM-1 expression by the islets. Interferon-gamma was important for the early gene expression changes in the islets. By microarray analysis we detected up-regulation of a group of interferon-inducible genes as early as 8 hours post T cell transfer. These studies provide a baseline to examine the development of therapeutics that can modulate islet localization of diabetogenic T cells to control this autoimmune disease.

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Calderon B, Carrero JA, Miller MJ, Unanue ER