Journal article
Cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-mediated killing of human pancreatic islet cells in vitro
PD Campbell, E Estella, NL Dudek, G Jhala, HE Thomas, TWH Kay, SI Mannering
Human Immunology | ELSEVIER SCIENCE INC | Published : 2008
Abstract
Cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) are believed to play an essential role in β-cell destruction leading to development of type 1 diabetes and allogeneic islet graft failure. We aimed to identify the mechanisms used by CTL to kill human β cells. CTL clones that recognize epitopes from influenza virus and Epstein-Barr virus restricted by human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-A0201 and -B0801, respectively, were used to investigate the susceptibility of human β cells to CTL. In a short-term (5-hour) assay, CTL killed human islet cells of the appropriate major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I type that had been pulsed with viral peptides. Killing was increased by pretreating islets with interferon ga..
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Funding Acknowledgements
This work was supported by grants from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Australian Government, and the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia. The authors express thanks to the Tom Mandel Human Islet Transplant program for human islets; to Dr. Tony Purcell for reagents; to Lina Mariana and Natalie Sanders for islet viability staining; and to Dan Thearle for technical assistance.