CFH1b Research - Is human type 1 diabetes a result of immunological attack of the thymic quality control machinery?

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a condition where the immune system destroys the insulin-producing β cells in the pancreas. Insulin deficiency results, leading to life-threatening medical conditions due to an inability to control the body’s sugar levels. In mouse and man, T1D development is linked to breakdown in the quality control mechanisms in the thymus that normally should remove immune cells with reactivity for β cell molecules. Using animal models of T1D, we showed that immunological attack of thymic tissue precedes breakdown in the quality control machinery. We will determine if this scenario occurs in man by generating a ‘humanized mouse’; an animal whose immune system is completely human and we will investigate whether a human immune system will attack the thymic stroma impairing the quality control machinery. Since human thymic donor tissue is scarce, humanized mice could be invaluable at deciphering the complexities of the thymus in T1D development.