| First Author | Gearty SV | Year | 2022 |
| Journal | Nature | Volume | 602 |
| Issue | 7895 | Pages | 156-161 |
| PubMed ID | 34847567 | Mgi Jnum | J:338101 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:7287998 | Doi | 10.1038/s41586-021-04248-x |
| Citation | Gearty SV, et al. (2022) An autoimmune stem-like CD8 T cell population drives type 1 diabetes. Nature 602(7895):156-161 |
| abstractText | CD8 T cell-mediated autoimmune diseases result from the breakdown of self-tolerance mechanisms in autoreactive CD8 T cells(1). How autoimmune T cell populations arise and are sustained, and the molecular programmes defining the autoimmune T cell state, are unknown. In type 1 diabetes, beta-cell-specific CD8 T cells destroy insulin-producing beta-cells. Here we followed the fate of beta-cell-specific CD8 T cells in non-obese diabetic mice throughout the course of type 1 diabetes. We identified a stem-like autoimmune progenitor population in the pancreatic draining lymph node (pLN), which self-renews and gives rise to pLN autoimmune mediators. pLN autoimmune mediators migrate to the pancreas, where they differentiate further and destroy beta-cells. Whereas transplantation of as few as 20 autoimmune progenitors induced type 1 diabetes, as many as 100,000 pancreatic autoimmune mediators did not. Pancreatic autoimmune mediators are short-lived, and stem-like autoimmune progenitors must continuously seed the pancreas to sustain beta-cell destruction. Single-cell RNA sequencing and clonal analysis revealed that autoimmune CD8 T cells represent unique T cell differentiation states and identified features driving the transition from autoimmune progenitor to autoimmune mediator. Strategies aimed at targeting the stem-like autoimmune progenitor pool could emerge as novel and powerful immunotherapeutic interventions for type 1 diabetes. |
