Developing a novel model system to target insulin-reactive CD8 T cells

Gwen S Scott1, Sigal Fishman, Alon Margalit

  • 1Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, School of Medical Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom.

CD8 T cells play an important role in autoimmune diabetes development, and therefore removing these cells may protect against disease. To test this, we designed a novel method using engineered cells (InsCD3-zeta) to target insulin-specific CD8 T cells. Insulin-reactive target cells were cultured with InsCD3-zeta CD8 T cells and cytotoxicity was assessed. Activated, but not naïve, InsCD3-zeta CD8 T cells readily killed insulin-reactive target CD8 T cells. This approach to immunotarget relevant pathogenic CD8 T cells may be a therapeutic option to delay or prevent type 1 diabetes.

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