| First Author | Pauza ME | Year | 2001 |
| Journal | Diabetes | Volume | 50 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 39-46 |
| PubMed ID | 11147792 | Mgi Jnum | J:133138 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:3777855 | Doi | 10.2337/diabetes.50.1.39 |
| Citation | Pauza ME, et al. (2001) Variable effects of transgenic c-Maf on autoimmune diabetes. Diabetes 50(1):39-46 |
| abstractText | Autoimmune diabetes is associated with T helper 1 polarization, but protection from disease can be provided by the application of T helper 2 (Th2) cytokines. To test whether genetic manipulation of T-cells can provide protective Th2 responses, we developed transgenic mice in which T-cells express the interleukin-4-specific transcription factor c-Maf. When crossed with a transgenic model that combines a class II restricted T-cell receptor specific for influenza hemagglutinin with islet beta-cell expression of hemagglutinin, the c-Maf transgene provided significant protection from spontaneous autoimmunity but not from adoptively transferred diabetes. In a second transgenic model in which islet cells express the lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus nucleoprotein, the virus infection triggers autoimmune diabetes within a few weeks involving both CD4 and CD8 T-cells; here too transgenic c-Maf provided significant protection. Surprisingly, when the c-Maf transgene was backcrossed with the NOD model of spontaneous disease, no protection was evident. Thus, transgenic c-Maf can strongly influence autoimmune disease development in some models, but additional factors, such as background genetic differences, can influence the potency of its effect. |
