INSULIN itself triggers the immune system to destroy insulin-producing cells
in the pancreas during early-onset diabetes.
Susan Wong of Yale University genetically engineered diabetes-causing T cells
from mice to turn blue when activated. Exposing these cells to a soup of protein
fragments from insulin-producing cells, Wong and her colleagues found that a
particular region of the insulin molecule was activating the T cells (Nature
Medicine, vol 5, p 1026).
“It’s likely that this is what happens in humans too,” says Wong. Her
ultimate goal is to find molecules that can turn a diabetic’s immune system from
destroyer to protector.
