title: Sensory neurons link the nervous system and autoimmune diabetes.
abstract: The initial factors that trigger the autoimmune response against pancreatic islets in the nonobese diabetic (NOD) mouse are still unknown. In this issue of Cell, propose that a defect in a subset of sensory neurons innervating the pancreas plays a major role in initiating the chain of events that will lead to local inflammation, islet destruction, and autoimmune diabetes.
authors.affiliation: UCSF Diabetes Center, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 513 Parnassus Avenue, Box 0540, San Francisco, CA 94143, USA.
authors.forename: Helene
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Bour-Jordan
authors.forename: Jeffrey A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Bluestone
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015551:Autoimmunity; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000276:immunology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000503:physiopathology; D007515:Islets of Langerhans / Q000276:immunology / Q000294:innervation*; D051379:Mice; D016688:Mice, Inbred NOD; D009475:Neurons, Afferent / Q000502:physiology*; D009490:Neurosecretory Systems / Q000502:physiology; D050916:TRPV Cation Channels / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D050916:TRPV Cation Channels; C493921:TRPV1 protein, mouse