PMID: 9637495Jun 24, 1998Paper

High frequency apoptosis of recent thymic emigrants in the liver of lymphopenic diabetes-prone BioBreeding rats

The Journal of Immunology : Official Journal of the American Association of Immunologists
N N IwakoshiD L Greiner

Abstract

Diabetes-prone (DP) BioBreeding (BB) rats develop spontaneous autoimmune diabetes. DP-BB thymocyte export is reduced, and most thymic emigrants disappear rapidly from peripheral lymphoid tissues. DP-BB rats are consequently lymphopenic and circulate severely reduced numbers of T cells. Peripheral T cells present are phenotypically immature (Thy1+) and appear activated. We hypothesized that DP-BB recent thymic emigrants have a shortened life span and disappear by apoptosis. The percentage of T cells with an alphabetaTCR(low) B220+ CD4- CD8- phenotype was increased in DP peripheral lymphoid tissues when compared with normal, nonlymphopenic diabetes-resistant (DR) BB rat tissues. There was no evidence of DNA fragmentation in freshly isolated DP- or DR-BB rat cells, but, after 24 h of culture, a higher proportion of DP- than DR-BB splenic T cells underwent apoptosis. We then tested the hypothesis that BB rat T cells with the alphabetaTCR(low) B220+ CD4- CD8- phenotype accumulate and undergo apoptosis in the liver. Such cells were observed undergoing apoptosis in both DP- and DR-BB rats, but comprised approximately 80% of intrahepatic T cells in DP vs approximately 20% in DR-BB rats. Most alphabetaTCR(low) B220+ CD4- CD8- cells in t...Continue Reading

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Autoimmune Hepatitis

Autoimmune hepatitis formerly called lupoid hepatitis, is a chronic, autoimmune disease of the liver that occurs when the body's immune system attacks liver cells causing the liver to be inflamed. Discover the latest research on autoimmune hepatitis here.

Apoptosis

Apoptosis is a specific process that leads to programmed cell death through the activation of an evolutionary conserved intracellular pathway leading to pathognomic cellular changes distinct from cellular necrosis

Autoimmune Diabetes & Tolerance

Patients with type I diabetes lack insulin-producing beta cells due to the loss of immunological tolerance and autoimmune disease. Discover the latest research on targeting tolerance to prevent diabetes.

Autoimmune Diseases

Autoimmune diseases occur as a result of an attack by the immune system on the body’s own tissues resulting in damage and dysfunction. There are different types of autoimmune diseases, in which there is a complex and unknown interaction between genetics and the environment. Discover the latest research on autoimmune diseases here.