Endocrine Abstracts

In vitro expanded antigen specific CD4+CD25+ regulatory T cells (Tregs), have been shown to suppress autoimmune diabetes, suggesting a novel approach to cellular immunotherapy for autoimmunity. However to interfere with ongoing disease requires at least 106 in vitro expanded antigen specific Tregs which are difficult to obtain from a polyclonal repertoire. Hence an alternative approach would be to instruct naïve or antigen specific CD4+T cells to ...

Transfer of hematopoetic stem cells from mice transgenically overexpressing the islet autoantigen insulin could prevent type I diabetes in NOD mice. We tested if such an approach of tolerance induction could be employed by means of retroviral gene transfer of autoantigens into syngeneic hematopoetic stem cells (HSCs). We used glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD) as the autoantigen as T cell responses against GAD are more easily detected in NOD mice and as it has been previousl...

The AIRE gene (autoimmune regulator) has been identified as an important mediator of central tolerance against ectopically expressed peripheral antigens. Mutatations of AIRE are responsible for autoimmune polyendocrinopathy syndrome type I (APSI) in human characterized by a multiorgan autoimmune disease. Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is part of the clinical spectrum in humans and mice. 19% of patients with AIRE mutations develop an autoimmune hepatitis which is characterized by a...