title: The role of CD8+ T cells in the initiation of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.
abstract: While it is generally accepted that T cells are critical for the development of diabetes in the non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse, the precise functions of the CD4+ and CD8+ subsets remain ill-defined. Transfer experiments have provided evidence that CD4+ cells are the disease initiators, provoking massive mononuclear leukocyte infiltration into the pancreatic islets, while CD8+ cells play an effector role, responsible for the final destruction of islet beta cells. It was surprising, then, to find that NOD mice carrying a null mutation at the beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2-mu) locus, and thereby lacking major histocompatibility complex class I molecules and CD8+ T cells, developed neither insulitis nor diabetes. Here, we argue that the absence of insulitis in these animals results from their lack of CD8+ cells because islet infiltration is also absent when NOD mice are treated with an anti-CD8 monoclonal antibody (mAb) at a young age. Interestingly, the anti-CD8 effect is only observed when the mAb is injected during a discrete age window--2 to 5 weeks after birth. Transfer experiments indicate that the lack of CD8+ cells during this period somehow alters the phenotype of CD4+ cells, preventing them from expressing their insulitis potential. This is not because they are generally immuno-incompetent nor because they are generally more prone to differentiating into cells with Th2 characteristics. Given that neither the beta 2-mu mutation nor anti-CD8 treatment affect insulitis in a T cell receptor transgenic (tg) mouse strain with a CD4+ T cell repertoire highly skewed for an anti-islet cell reactivity, the most straight-forward interpretation of these observations is that CD8+ cells are required for effective priming and expansion of autoreactive CD4+ cells.
authors.affiliation: Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (CNRS/INSERM/ULP) Illkirch, C.U. de Strasbourg, France.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gonzalez
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Benoist
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mathis
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000494:pharmacology; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D018414:CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000502:physiology; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology* / Q000517:prevention & control; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000235:genetics; D051379:Mice; D016688:Mice, Inbred NOD; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D018417:Th1 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D018418:Th2 Cells / Q000276:immunology; D001613:beta 2-Microglobulin / Q000172:deficiency
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D007166:Immunosuppressive Agents; D001613:beta 2-Microglobulin