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Diabetes 56:424-430, 2007
DOI: 10.2337/db06-1303
© 2007 by the American Diabetes Association
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Cellular Expression Requirements for Inhibition of Type 1 Diabetes by a Dominantly Protective Major Histocompatibility Complex Haplotype

Yi-Guang Chen1, Pablo A. Silveira1, Melissa A. Osborne1, Harold D. Chapman1, and David V. Serreze1

From The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. David V. Serreze, Senior Staff Scientist, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, ME 04609. E-mail: dave.serreze{at}jax.org

Abbreviations: APC, antigen-presenting cell; MHC, major histocompatibility complex; TCR, T-cell receptor


   ABSTRACT
TOP
 ABSTRACT
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
The H2g7 (Kd, Ag7, Enull, and Db) major histocompatibility complex (MHC) is the primary genetic contributor to type 1 diabetes in NOD mice. NOD stocks congenically expressing other MHC haplotypes such as H2nb1 (Kb, Anb1, Ek, and Db) in a heterozygous state are type 1 diabetes resistant. Hematopoietically derived antigen-presenting cells (APCs) expressing H2nb1 MHC molecules delete or inactivate autoreactive diabetogenic T-cells. Thus, provided a relatively benign preconditioning protocol is ultimately developed, hematopoietic chimerization by APCs expressing dominantly protective MHC molecules could conceivably provide a means for type 1 diabetes prevention in humans. Before hematopoietic chimerization can be considered for type 1 diabetes prevention, it must be determined what subtype(s) of APCs (B-cells, macrophages, and/or dendritic cells) expressing protective MHC molecules most efficiently inhibit disease, as well as the engraftment level they must achieve to accomplish this. These issues were addressed through analyses of NOD background bone marrow chimeras in which H2nb1 molecules were selectively expressed on variable proportions of different APC subtypes. While a modest B-cell effect was observed, the strongest type 1 diabetes protection resulted from at least 50% of dendritic cells and macrophages expressing H2nb1 molecules. At this engraftment level, H2nb1-expressing dendritic cells and macrophages mediated virtually complete deletion of a highly pathogenic CD8 T-cell population.

Type 1 diabetes in both humans and NOD mice results from T-cell–mediated autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic ß-cells (1). Multiple susceptibility (Idd) genes contribute to type 1 diabetes (1). However, particular combinations of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region genes interactively provide the primary component of type 1 diabetes susceptibility in both humans and NOD mice (1). Antigen-presenting cells (APCs), which include dendritic cells, macrophages, and B-cells, play essential roles not only in the initiation of a protective immune response against pathogens but also in the prevention of autoimmunity. One mechanism by which APCs normally contribute to the maintenance of immunological tolerance is to mediate the physical deletion or functional inactivation of potentially autoreactive T-cells in both the thymus and in the periphery through presentation of self-antigen–derived peptides bound to MHC molecules (2,3). Therefore, it is not surprising that APC defects appear to contribute to type 1 diabetes development in both humans and NOD mice. Indeed, studies in NOD mice indicate that homozygous expression of this strain’s unusual H2g7 MHC haplotype (Kd, Ag7, Enull, and Db), coupled with contributions from other Idd genes, gives rise to APCs that are unable to mediate tolerogenic processes normally blocking the development or functional activation of autoreactive diabetogenic T-cells (rev. in 1).

While not the sole pathogenic component, a key MHC-encoded diabetogenic feature of NOD APCs is homozygous expression of H2-Ag7 but not H2-E class II molecules. This was demonstrated by the finding that type 1 diabetes development is inhibited in a dominant fashion in NOD stocks carrying transgenes encoding H2-A variants from MHC haplotypes other than H2g7 or that restore H2-E expression (4–7). Type 1 diabetes is also dominantly inhibited in NOD congenic stocks that express, in a heterozygous state, another MHC haplotype in conjunction with H2g7 (8–11). Interestingly, type 1 diabetes resistance elicited by non-H2g7 MHC haplotypes congenically introduced to the NOD background interactively results from effects mediated by class I and II molecules that block the development or function of pathogenic T-cells (5,12–14). For example, while ß-cell–autoreactive CD8 T-cells of the AI4 clonotype are not deleted when maturing in the presence of Kb MHC class I–expressing APCs, they become functionally anergic (14). Using hematopoietic chimerization approaches, we previously found that when transgenically encoded H2-E is the sole type 1 diabetes–resistant MHC molecule expressed on APCs in NOD mice, diabetogenic T-cells still develop but are functionally inhibited through a peripheral regulatory mechanism (5). On the other hand, hematopoietic chimerization studies have also demonstrated that AI4 T-cells are deleted or permanently anergized when forced to mature in an environment where all APC express the multiple gene products encoded by the type 1 diabetes–protective H2nb1 MHC haplotype (Kb, Anb1, Ek, and Db) (14). Thus, as APCs express a broader array of diabetes-resistant MHC genes, they acquire the ability to activate increasingly diverse tolerogenic mechanisms that limit both the development and function of ß-cell–autoreactive T-cells.

Similar to the case in NOD-related mouse stocks, certain MHC molecules, such as the DQ6 class II variant, also provide dominant type 1 diabetes resistance in humans (rev. in 15). Thus, provided that a relatively benign preconditioning protocol could ultimately be developed, allowing it to be done safely, hematopoietic chimerization giving rise to APCs expressing multiple types of dominantly protective MHC molecules could provide a means for preventing progression to type 1 diabetes in at-risk individuals. Indeed, while using mostly high-dose irradiation–preconditioning protocols, multiple studies have demonstrated that reconstitution with bone marrow from resistant strains can block type 1 diabetes development in NOD mice (16–22). However, even if a benign preconditioning regimen is ultimately developed, before allogeneic hematopoietic chimerization can be considered as a type 1 diabetes prevention therapy in humans, it must be determined what subtype(s) of APCs expressing protective MHC molecules most efficiently inhibit pathogenic T-cell responses, as well as the engraftment level necessary to achieve this. In this regard, it would be highly significant if B-cells efficiently elicit MHC-mediated type 1 diabetes–protective effects, as they represent the APC subtype that can be most readily isolated in large numbers from peripheral blood and thus obviate the need for the more problematical donation of bone marrow. Thus, in this study, we assessed what APC subtype(s) mediate the array of type 1 diabetes–protective effects elicited by multiple genes within the H2nb1 MHC haplotype and the engraftment levels they must achieve to accomplish this.


   RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
NOD/LtDvs mice are maintained at The Jackson Laboratory by brother-sister mating. NOD mice made B-cell deficient by a functionally disrupted Igµ allele (designated NOD.Igµnull) are maintained at the N10 backcross generation and have been previously described (23). Type 1 diabetes–resistant NOD mice congenic for the NON strain–derived H2nb1 haplotype are maintained at the N21 backcross generation and have also been described (9). These latter two stocks were crossed to generate a B-cell–deficient NOD stock also homozygous for the H2nb1 MHC haplotype (designated NOD.H2nb1.Igµnull). Development of a NOD stock transgenically expressing the rearranged T-cell receptor (TCR) {alpha} (V{alpha}8) and ß (Vß2) chain genes from the ß-cell–autoreactive CD8 T-cell clone AI4 (designated NOD.AI4) has also been previously described (24).

Generation of mixed bone marrow/B-cell chimeras.
Female (NOD.Igµnull x NOD.H2nb1.Igµnull)F1 mice at 4–6 weeks of age were lethally irradiated (1300R from a 137Cs source) and reconstituted as previously described (10) with 5 x 106 of the indicated T-cell–depleted bone marrow cells. In some experiments, 5 x 106 T-cell–depleted bone marrow cells were admixed with 5 x 106 purified B-cells as indicated. Splenic B-cells were purified using the previously described magnetic bead system (25). The purity of B-cells was >92%, as determined by flow cytometry described below.

Assessment of diabetes development.
Type 1 diabetes was assessed by weekly monitoring of glycosuric levels with Ames Diastrix (Bayer, Elkhart, NJ), with disease onset defined by values ≥3.

Histological analysis of insulitis development.
The indicated bone marrow–chimeric mice remaining diabetes free for 26 weeks postreconstitution were assessed for insulitis development. Mean insulitis scores were determined as previously described (26). Briefly, pancreata were fixed in Bouin’s solution and sectioned at three nonoverlapping levels. Granulated ß-cells were stained with aldehyde fuchsin and leukocytes with a hematoxylin and eosin counterstain. Islets (at least 20 per mouse) were individually scored as follows: 0, no lesions; 1, peri-insular leukocytic aggregates, usually periductal infiltrates; 2, <25% islet destruction; 3, >25% islet destruction; and 4, complete islet destruction. An insulitis score for each mouse was obtained by dividing the total score for each pancreas by the number of islets examined.

Analyses of B-cell reconstitution, bone marrow chimerism levels, and the frequency of AI4 T-cells.
Flow cytometry was used to determine the levels of B-cell reconstitution, bone marrow chimerism, and AI4 T-cells in recipient mice. B-cells were identified by costaining with the B220-specific antibody (clone RA3-6B2) and polyclonal anti-mouse immunoglobulin. Origins of dendritic cells were detected with antibodies specific for CD11c (clone HL3), the Kd (NOD type) MHC class I variant (clone SF1-1.1), and the Kb (NOD.H2nb1 type) MHC class I variant (clone 28-13-3). To determine the frequency of AI4 T-cells, thymocytes and splenocytes were stained with antibodies specific for CD8 (clone 53-6.7), CD4 (clone GK1.5), and the TCR V{alpha}8 component (clone B21.14).


   RESULTS
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
 RESULTS
DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 
Expression of H2nb1 molecules solely on dendritic cells/macrophages strongly inhibits type 1 diabetes development.
Normally resistant (NOD x NOD.H2nb1)F1 mice develop type 1 diabetes if irradiated and reconstituted with NOD bone marrow (10). However, when reconstituted with a 1:1 mixture of NOD and NOD.H2nb1 bone marrow, stable mixed chimerism results, and such F1 hybrids are now protected from type 1 diabetes (10). Subsequent studies indicated that H2nb1-expressing APCs mediated the deletion or permanent inactivation of autoreactive diabetogenic T-cells that normally develop from precursors in NOD bone marrow (27). An unresolved issue was if H2nb1 molecules needed to be expressed on all APC subtypes (dendritic cells, macrophages, and B-cells) to mediate the deletion or permanent inactivation of a sufficient array of ß-cell–autoreactive T-cell clonotypes to prevent type 1 diabetes development. To do this, we adapted a previously described bone marrow–chimeric system that allows T-cells to mature and function in an environment where expression of H2nb1 is restricted to dendritic cells/macrophages or B-cells (26).

We first generated (NOD.Igµnull x NOD.H2nb1.Igµnull)F1 mice and tested if type 1 diabetes would develop when reconstituted with NOD.Igµnull bone marrow and purified NOD B-cells. In this case, all APCs express only the type 1 diabetes–susceptible H2g7 haplotype, but nonhematopoietically derived cells heterozygously express both H2g7 and H2nb1 molecules. As shown in Table 1, >60% of the recipients became diabetic by 26 weeks post–bone marrow reconstitution. These results confirmed the previous observation (10) that expression of H2nb1 MHC molecules on nonhematopoietic cells is not sufficient to block type 1 diabetes development.


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  		TABLE 1 H2nb1 MHC molecules more strongly suppress type 1 diabetes development when solely expressed on dendritic cells/macrophages than the B-cell subset of APCs*

 
We then tested if H2nb1 expression solely on dendritic cells/macrophages is capable of suppressing type 1 diabetes. This was done by reconstituting lethally irradiated (NOD.Igµnull x NOD.H2nb1.Igµnull)F1 females with NOD.H2nb1.Igµnull bone marrow admixed with purified NOD B-cells. As summarized in Table 1, none of these recipients became diabetic by 26 weeks postengraftment. It should be noted that in these bone marrow chimeras, the positive selection of T-cells could be mediated by either H2g7 and H2nb1 MHC molecules (class I: Kd, Kb, or Db; class II: Ag7, Anb1, or Ek) expressed on non–hematopoietically derived thymic epithelial cells. However, with the exception of Db, all other H2nb1- or H2g7-specific MHC class I/II molecules were solely expressed by either the dendritic cell/macrophage or B-cell subsets of hematopoietically derived APCs, respectively, available to activate T-cell effector function in the periphery. Therefore, complete type 1 diabetes resistance in these particular chimeras could be due to the lack of Kd- and/or Ag7-expressing dendritic cells/macrophages, which may be required to fully activate ß-cell–autoreactive T-cells restricted to these H2g7-encoded MHC molecules. To rule out this possibility, we reconstituted lethally irradiated (NOD.Igµnull x NOD.H2nb1.Igµnull)F1 recipient mice with syngeneic bone marrow admixed with purified NOD B-cells. In this case, the same H2g7 MHC molecules available to positively select T-cells in the thymus are also coexpressed with H2nb1-encoded variants on all dendritic cells/macrophages in the periphery. As shown in Table 1, such recipient mice were still highly protected from type 1 diabetes. These results indicated that heterozygous expression of H2g7 MHC molecules on dendritic cells/macrophages was not sufficient to break type 1 diabetes resistance conferred by H2nb1-encoded gene products on the same cells. In addition to protection from overt diabetes, insulitis was also significantly reduced by the presence of H2nb1-expressing dendritic cells/macrophages (Fig. 1). Therefore, heterozygous expression of H2nb1-encoded genes solely by the dendritic cell/macrophage lineages of APCs is sufficient to strongly inhibit type 1 diabetes development in NOD background mouse stocks.


Figure 1
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  		FIG. 1. Expression of H2nb1 MHC molecules solely on dendritic cells/macrophages or B-cells reduces insulitis. Female (NOD.Igµnull x NOD.H2nb1.Igµnull)F1 mice were lethally irradiated at 4–6 weeks of age and reconstituted with indicated bone marrow (BM) and purified B-cells. Insulitis was determined for nondiabetic recipients at 26 weeks postreconstitution. The results are presented as mean insulitis score ± SE. *P < 0.05, significantly lower than NOD. Igµnull bone marrow/NOD B-cell recipients (Wilcoxon’s rank-sum test). **P < 0.05, significantly lower than NOD.Igµnull bone marrow/NOD B-cell and NOD.Igµnull bone marrow/NOD.H2nb1 B-cell recipients (Wilcoxon’s rank-sum test).

 
H2nb1 molecules provide weaker type 1 diabetes–protective effects when expressed solely on B-cells rather than dendritic cells/macrophages.
We next tested if H2nb1 expression exclusively by all B-cells was sufficient to suppress type 1 diabetes. This was done by reconstituting lethally irradiated (NOD.Igµnull x NOD.H2nb1.Igµnull)F1 females with NOD.Igµnull bone marrow admixed with purified NOD.H2nb1 B-cells. Expression of H2nb1 MHC molecules solely on B-cells was also capable of retarding type 1 diabetes development and reducing insulitis. However, B-cells did so less efficiently than dendritic cells/macrophages (Table 1 and Fig. 1). It should be noted that the extent to which H2nb1-expressing B-cells were able to block type 1 diabetes development in the F1 recipients did not correlate with their level of engraftment. This is illustrated by the fact that the proportion of H2nb1-expressing B-cells among splenic leukocytes in the 2/10 F1 recipients that did develop type 1 diabetes was 5.8 and 18.6%, while the overall group mean repopulation level was 13.2%.

To independently induce efficient type 1 diabetes resistance, ~50% of dendritic cells/macrophages must express H2nb1 molecules.
We next determined what proportion of the dendritic cell/macrophage subset of APCs must express H2nb1 molecules to independently block type 1 diabetes development in an efficient fashion. This was done by reconstituting lethally irradiated (NOD.Igµnull x NOD.H2nb1.Igµnull)F1 females with different proportions of admixed syngeneic and NOD bone marrow. In this case, all B-cells are of NOD origin, and different levels of H2nb1-expressing dendritic cells/macrophages are present in various groups of recipient mice. The proportion of dendritic cells/macrophages displaying H2nb1 molecules was determined by analyzing Kb expression on CD11c+ cells (Fig. 2). As shown in Fig. 3A, compared with controls reconstituted with NOD bone marrow alone, type 1 diabetes development was most efficiently suppressed in recipients in which H2nb1 molecules were independently expressed on ≥50% of the dendritic cell/macrophage lineages of APCs. While also developing at levels that statistical analyses indicated to be significantly suppressed compared with controls reconstituted with NOD bone marrow alone, a more modest type 1 diabetes–protective effect was observed in recipients where the proportion of dendritic cells/macrophages independently expressing H2nb1 molecules did not exceed 50% (Fig. 3A). In those recipients in which the proportion of H2nb1-expressing dendritic cells/macrophages did not exceed 50%, the reconstitution levels of such APCs did not correlate with type 1 diabetes susceptibility or resistance (Fig. 3B). Furthermore, the finding that the engraftment levels of H2nb1-positive dendritic cells/macrophages must approach 50% to efficiently inhibit type 1 diabetes development indicates that low-level contamination by these myeloid APCs was unlikely to be a protective factor in the studies that assessed the ability of highly purified B-cells (>92%) expressing the same MHC molecules to block disease onset.


Figure 2
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  		FIG. 2. Expression of H2nb1-encoded Kb MHC molecules defines the origin of dendritic cells in bone marrow (BM) chimeras. Flow cytometry was used to distinguish dendritic cells (CD11c+) of NOD or (NOD.Igµnull x NOD.H2nb1.Igµnull)F1 origin by the respective absence or presence of Kb expression. Examples of two bone marrow chimeras are shown.

 

Figure 3
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  		FIG. 3. To independently induce efficient type 1 diabetes resistance, ~50% of dendritic cells/macrophages must express H2nb1 molecules. Female (NOD.Igµnull x NOD.H2nb1.Igµnull)F1 mice were lethally irradiated at 4–6 weeks of age and reconstituted with NOD bone marrow (BM) alone or admixed with syngeneic (F1) bone marrow. The levels of F1 bone marrow–derived dendritic cells/macrophages were determined by fluorescence-activated cell sorting as described in RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS. A: Mixed bone marrow chimeras are grouped based on the chimerization level (> or <50% F1 bone marrow derived) and assessed for type 1 diabetes development. *P < 0.05, significantly different from NOD bone marrow–only recipients (Kaplan-Meier log-rank analysis). **P < 0.05, significantly different from NOD and (NOD.Igµnull x NOD.H2nb1.Igµnull)F1 bone marrow recipients with <50% F1-derived dendritic cells/macrophages (Kaplan-Meier log-rank analysis). B: Unless exceeding 50%, the reconstitution levels of H2nb1-expressing dendritic cells/macrophages do not correlate with type 1 diabetes susceptibility or resistance. Data depict the length of time postreconstitution that the same chimeras shown in A remained free of type 1 diabetes as a function of levels of H2nb1-expressing dendritic cells/macrophages. The experiment was terminated at 26 weeks postreconstitution. {triangleup} and {circ} represent recipients with varying levels of H2nb1-expressing dendritic cells/macrophages that did or did not progress to overt type 1 diabetes, respectively. {square} and {diamond} represent controls reconstituted with NOD bone marrow only that did or did not progress to overt type 1 diabetes, respectively.

 
H2nb1-expressing dendritic cells/macrophages engrafted at levels efficiently inducing type 1 diabetes resistance mediate the virtually complete deletion of a ß-cell–autoreactive CD8 T-cell clonotype.
H2nb1-expressing APCs can mediate the deletion to variable degrees of at least some ß-cell–autoreactive T-cell clonotypes normally contributing to type 1 diabetes in NOD mice (13,14). We previously demonstrated that H2nb1 expression on 15–40% of dendritic cells/macrophages resulted in partial, but incomplete, deletion in both the thymus and spleen of the important diabetogenic CD8 T-cell clonotype AI4 (27). However, as shown earlier, H2nb1 molecules must be expressed by at least 50% of the dendritic cell/macrophage lineages of APCs to efficiently inhibit type 1 diabetes development. Thus, we reasoned that an evaluation of the level to which AI4 T-cells develop when forced to differentiate under conditions where the proportion of H2nb1-expressing dendritic cells/macrophages exceeded 50% could provide insight regarding the extent that such APCs mediate strong type 1 diabetes resistance by inducing the deletion of pathogenic effectors versus the activation of other potential regulatory mechanisms.

Lethally irradiated (NOD.Igµnull x NOD.H2nb1.Igµnull)F1 mice were reconstituted with a 2:1 mixture of syngeneic F1 and NOD.AI4 bone marrow. At 8 weeks postreconstitution, 57–73% of the dendritic cells/macrophages in these chimeras heterozygously expressed H2nb1 molecules (all B-cells were homozygous for H2g7). Control chimeras consisted of the same type of F1 recipients reconstituted with a 2:1 mixture of standard NOD and NOD.AI4 bone marrow. All APCs in the control chimeras homozygously expressed H2g7 molecules. AI4 T-cells were identified in the control and test chimeras by coexpression of CD8 and the TCR V{alpha}8 element (Fig. 4A). Compared with their levels in controls, the numbers of CD8 single-positive thymocytes that expressed the AI4 TCR were reduced by >93% in the chimeras in which the proportion of H2nb1-expressing dendritic cells/macrophages exceeded 50% (Fig. 4B). This carried over to the periphery, since numbers of AI4 T-cells in the spleens of the test chimeras were also reduced by >87% compared with their levels in controls (Fig. 4C). We previously found that some CD4 T-cells are still generated in NOD.AI4 mice but that their development and function is controlled by endogenously derived rather than coexpressed transgenic TCR molecules (24). This probably explains why peripheral levels of CD4 T-cells expressing the AI4 TCR were not influenced by the presence of H2nb1-expressing APCs (data not shown). The array of autoreactive T-cell responses that aberrantly develop and cause type 1 diabetes in human patients and NOD mice are clearly normally prevented in most other individuals and mouse strains by multiple regulatory mechanisms (28). However, our current results show that the virtually complete deletion of at least AI4, and perhaps other highly pathogenic T-cell clonotypes, represents one contributory mechanism by which engraftment with a sufficiently high threshold level of dendritic cells/macrophages expressing dominantly protective H2nb1 MHC molecules elicits type 1 diabetes resistance in normally susceptible NOD mice.


Figure 4
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  		FIG. 4. H2nb1-expressing dendritic cell/macrophage engrafted at levels efficiently inducing type 1 diabetes resistance mediate the virtually complete deletion of a ß-cell–autoreactive CD8 T-cell clonotype. Female (NOD.Igµnull x NOD.H2nb1.Igµnull)F1 mice were lethally irradiated at 4–6 weeks of age and reconstituted with bone marrow from syngeneic and NOD.AI4 TCR transgenic donors at a ratio of 2:1. Controls were the same type of F1 mice reconstituted with NOD and NOD.AI4 TCR transgenic bone marrow at a ratio of 2:1. At 8 weeks postreconstitution, the proportions of dendritic cells derived from each donor bone marrow type as well as the percentages and numbers of CD8 single-positive thymocytes and splenocytes that expressed the AI4 TCR were assessed. A: Representative fluorescence-activated cell sorting profiles of thymocytes (gated on CD4–CD8+) and splenocytes (gated on CD8+) expressing the AI4 TCR V{alpha}8 chain. B: Numbers of AI4 CD8 SP thymocytes. C: Numbers of AI4 T-cells in the spleen. Statistical analyses in B and C were carried out by Wilcoxon’s rank-sum test.

 

   DISCUSSION
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
REFERENCES
 
In the current study, we have demonstrated that expression of a disease-protective MHC haplotype (H2nb1) solely on either dendritic cells/macrophages or B-cells is capable of inhibiting insulitis and type 1 diabetes development in NOD mice. However, dendritic cells/macrophages accomplish this more efficiently than B-cells. It was also found that their ability to independently inhibit type 1 diabetes development in NOD recipients was most efficient when bone marrow chimerization resulted in at least ~50% of dendritic cells/macrophages expressing H2nb1 molecules, albeit with lower but still significant protection achieved at lower repopulation levels. One likely explanation why dendritic cells/macrophages provide stronger H2nb1-mediated type 1 diabetes–protective effects than B-cells is that the former myeloid lineages represent the primary type of APCs available in the thymus to mediate negative selection. Indeed, when dendritic cells and macrophages are the only types of APCs to express H2nb1 molecules and have engrafted at levels that most efficiently inhibit type 1 diabetes development in NOD recipients, autoreactive CD8 T-cells of the AI4 clonotype undergo virtually complete intrathymic deletion. On the other hand, while they do so in a less efficient manner than the dendritic cell/macrophage lineages of APCs, our results indicate that H2nb1-expressing B-cells are also able to significantly reduce insulitis and inhibit progression to type 1 diabetes in NOD mice most likely through peripheral tolerance induction mechanisms. These collective results suggest that perhaps due to an ability to activate a wider array of immunoregulatory mechanism than when limited to a single lineage, protective MHC haplotypes may most efficiently inhibit type 1 diabetes development when expressed by all types of APCs.

Certain HLA molecules, such as the DQ6 class II variant, also provide dominant type 1 diabetes resistance in humans (rev. in 15). Therefore, bone marrow chimerization with donor cells expressing protective HLA alleles represents an attractive treatment for prevention of type 1 diabetes in humans at risk for this disease or allowing reversal of hyperglycemia by cotransplantation of donor-matched pancreatic islets. However, clinical application of bone marrow chimerization protocols for type 1 diabetes prevention or reversal has been precluded by the risks associated with this procedure. One adverse outcome is the development of graft versus host disease. Another concern is the toxicity caused by high-dose irradiation, which is required to precondition recipients for donor bone marrow engraftment.

Previous studies (20–22) have successfully used preconditioning protocols not including a lethal dose of irradiation to achieve allogeneic bone marrow chimerization as a means to block type 1 diabetes development or reverse the disease in NOD mice when combined with donor-matched islet transplantation. However, in all cases, initially established mixed bone marrow chimerism could not be maintained, as virtually all hematopoietic cells converted to donor type at some point postreconstitution (20–22). While type 1 diabetes can be prevented, full allogeneic bone marrow chimerism also predisposes recipients to an undesirable immunocompromised state (27). We recently reported a new conditioning protocol that includes a low nonlethal irradiation dose (600 R) and injection of CD154 (i.e., CD40L)-blocking and CD8 T-cell–depleting antibodies (27). This protocol induced a stable partial state of allogeneic hematopoietic chimerism (~50% donor derived) and completely prevented type 1 diabetes development in NOD mice. Most importantly, the generalized immunosuppression observed in full allogeneic bone marrow–chimerized recipients was avoided (27).

Our new preconditioning regimen, which does not require high-dose irradiation, allowed us to achieve encouraging results, but it did not allow us to establish allogeneic hematopoietic chimerism levels of <50% in NOD recipients (27). As a result, we were forced to use a high-dose irradiation preconditioning regimen to determine the minimal level of engraftment that must be achieved by various subtypes of APC-expressing type 1 diabetes–protective MHC molecules to block disease development in NOD recipients. One potentially significant outcome of these analyses is that the ~50% engraftment threshold at which H2nb1-expressing APCs efficiently block type 1 diabetes development in NOD recipients is a level achievable through use of our newly developed preconditioning regimen, which does not require a high lethal dose of irradiation.

In conclusion, we have demonstrated in the NOD mouse model that the spectrum of disease-inhibitory effects that can be elicited by a complete type 1 diabetes–protective MHC haplotype are most readily manifest when its gene products are expressed by the dendritic cell and macrophage subsets of APCs rather than B-cells. In addition, our results indicate that when dendritic cells and macrophages are the only APCs expressing the type 1 diabetes–protective H2nb1 haplotype, at least 50% of them have to do so to achieve a maximal level of disease resistance. These results further enhance our knowledge for designing bone marrow transplantation protocols that may ultimately provide a therapeutic means to prevent or reverse type 1 diabetes in humans.


   ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 
This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grants DK46266 and DK51090, Cancer Center Support Grant CA34196, and grants from the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International.


   FOOTNOTES
 
P.A.S. is currently affiliated with the Immunology and Inflammation Program, Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Darlinghurst, Australia.

The costs of publication of this article were defrayed in part by the payment of page charges. This article must therefore be hereby marked "advertisement" in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact.

Received for publication September 15, 2006 and accepted in revised form October 26, 2006


   REFERENCES
TOP
 ABSTRACT
 RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS
 RESULTS
 DISCUSSION
 REFERENCES
 

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