| First Author | Stewart TA | Year | 1993 |
| Journal | Science | Volume | 260 |
| Issue | 5116 | Pages | 1942-6 |
| PubMed ID | 8100367 | Mgi Jnum | J:127518 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3763844 | Doi | 10.1126/science.8100367 |
| Citation | Stewart TA, et al. (1993) Induction of type I diabetes by interferon-alpha in transgenic mice. Science 260(5116):1942-6 |
| abstractText | Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease involving an interaction between an epigenetic event (possibly a viral infection), the pancreatic beta cells, and the immune system in a genetically susceptible host. The possibility that the type I interferons could mediate this interaction was tested with transgenic mice in which the insulin-producing beta cells expressed an interferon-alpha. These mice developed a hypoinsulinemic diabetes associated with a mixed inflammation centered on the islets. The inflammation and the diabetes were prevented with a neutralizing antibody to the interferon-alpha. Thus, the expression of interferon-alpha by the beta cells could be causal in the development of type I diabetes, which suggests a therapeutic approach to this disease. |
