CD8 T Cells Are Not Required for Islet Destruction Induced by a CD4+ Islet-Specific T-Cell Clone

Brenda J Bradley; Kathryn Haskins; Francisco G La Rosa; Kevin J Lafferty

doi:10.2337/diab.41.12.1603

Original Articles

CD8 T Cells Are Not Required for Islet Destruction Induced by a CD4⁺ Islet-Specific T-Cell Clone

Brenda J Bradley,
Kathryn Haskins,
Francisco G La Rosa and
Kevin J Lafferty

Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center Denver, Colorado

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Kevin Lafferty, Barbara Davis Center for Childhood Diabetes, University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, 4200 E. 9th Avenue, Box B140, Denver, CO 80262.

Diabetes 1992 Dec; 41(12): 1603-1608. https://doi.org/10.2337/diab.41.12.1603

Abstract

A panel of CD4⁺ T-cell clones has been isolated from the spleen and lymph nodes of diabetic NOD mice. These clones have been shown to be islet-specific both in vivo and in vitro. One of the clones, BDC-6.9, initiates extensive damage to islet tissue when placed adjacent to an NOD islet graft that has been used to reverse diabetes in (CBA × NOD)F1 recipients or when injected intraperitonealiy into such animals. In this study, we show that BDC-6.9 T cells can initiate islet destruction in the absence of detectable CD8 T cells either in the periphery or in the lesion that develops after the transfer of the cloned islet-reactive T cells.