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Evidence for superantigen involvement in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus aetiology

Nature volume 371, pages 351–355 (1994)Cite this article

Abstract

INSULIN-DEPENDENT diabetes mellitus (IDDM) is a T-cell-mediated autoimmune disease whose onset is believed to be triggered by unknown environmental factors acting on a predisposing genetic background. Islet-infiltrating T (IIT) cells from two IDDM patients, who had died at the onset of the disease from brain swelling as a complication of ketoacidosis, were analysed. The results provided evidence for the involvement of a pancreatic islet cell membrane-bound superantigen1,2 as a diabetes aetiopatho-genetic factor. There was a selective expansion of a T-cell receptor (TCR) variable segment of the β-chain (Vβ7) in these IIT cells in association with unselected Vα-chain segments; extensive junc-tional diversity of the TCR Vβ7 chains; and evidence of positive selection, after exposure to diabetic islet cell membrane preparations, of Vβ7+ T-cell clones among peripheral blood lymphocytes from non-diabetic individuals.

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Affiliations

  1. Division of Immunogenetics, Department of Pediatrics, Rangos Research Center, Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213, USA

    Bernard Conrad, Eckhart Weidmann, William A. Rudert, Roubik Behboo, David Finegold & Massimo Trucco

  2. Department of Pathology, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213, USA

    Giuliana Trucco & Massimo Trucco

  3. Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh, School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 15213, USA

    Camillo Ricordi & Horacio Rodriquez-Rilo

Authors
  1. Bernard Conrad
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  2. Eckhart Weidmann
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  3. Giuliana Trucco
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  4. William A. Rudert
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  5. Roubik Behboo
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  6. Camillo Ricordi
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  7. Horacio Rodriquez-Rilo
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  8. David Finegold
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  9. Massimo Trucco
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Conrad, B., Weidmann, E., Trucco, G. et al. Evidence for superantigen involvement in insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus aetiology. Nature 371, 351–355 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1038/371351a0

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