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Department of Immunology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA 92037
| Abstract |
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cells (Ins-IL-10 mice) do not develop diabetes, even after crossing
to nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice ((Ins-IL-10 x NOD)F1
mice). However, backcross of F1 mice to NOD mice
(NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice) results in N2 and N3 generations that develop
accelerated diabetes. In this study, we found that NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice
that expressed BALB/c-derived MHC molecules
(NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/d) mice) were protected from diabetes.
This protection associated with peri-islet infiltration and preserved
cell function. Moreover, expression of I-Ad and
I-Ed MHC class II molecules of BALB/c origin was not
responsible for protection, but NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice that expressed
BALB/c MHC class I Dd molecules
(NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/d) mice) did not develop diabetes. To
directly test the possibility of a protective role of H-2Dd
in the development of accelerated diabetes, we generated transgenic
mice expressing Dd under the control of the MHC class I
promoter. We found that double transgenic NOD.Ins-IL-10-Dd
mice developed accelerated diabetes in a fashion similar to
NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice that were Dd negative. Microsatellite
analysis of H-2Dd-linked loci confirmed association between
BALB/c-derived alleles and protection of
NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/d) mice. These results suggest a
control of H-2Dd-linked gene(s) on IL-10-mediated
acceleration of autoimmune diabetes and dominant protection of the
Dd region in NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice. | Introduction |
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cells and diabetes is under polygenic
control, with stochastic and/or environmental factors influencing
penetrance (3, 4). At least 18 chromosome regions have
been identified that control diabetes susceptibility or resistance in
the NOD mouse (5, 6). Among them, the most important
region for susceptibility is the diabetes-susceptibility
(Idd) Idd-1 locus, corresponding to the unique
NOD MHC H-2g7 (3). In addition to
H-2g7, other non-MHC genes exert diabetogenic
influence (7, 8).
We have previously reported that backcross of BALB/c mice transgenic
for the expression of IL-10 in pancreatic
cells (Ins-IL-10 mice)
(9) with NOD mice resulted in (Ins-IL-10 x
NOD)F1 mice that did not develop autoimmune
diabetes (10). Further backcross of
F1 mice to NOD mice resulted in progenies of
NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice that developed accelerated diabetes in an
MHC-dependent manner (10). The underlying mechanism(s)
responsible for this outcome were not clear (11, 12).
However, some NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice did not develop diabetes (10, 13), suggesting that segregation of some BALB/c genes could
protect from IL-10-mediated acceleration of IDDM (14).
In a previous analysis of MHC congenic stocks, we found that pancreatic IL-10 in NOD.B6PL-Thy1a-Idd3-Idd10 congenic mice could specifically overcome the absence of susceptibility alleles at Idd3 and Idd10 loci (15). Furthermore, we showed that pancreatic IL-10 could overcome the absence of NOD homozygosity of all non-MHC Idd alleles (10, 15).
Here we performed genetic segregation analysis on high backcross generations of NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice to identify BALB/c-derived protective genetic region(s). We report that protection from IL-10-mediated acceleration of diabetes in the NOD mouse is influenced by H-2D-linked loci and that a single dose of Dd can protect from disease.
| Materials and Methods |
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BALB/c, NOD/Shi, and NOD.SCID mice were purchased from The Scripps Research Institutes rodent breeding colony (La Jolla, CA). Transgenic Ins-IL-10 mice (9) (expressing IL-10 in the pancreatic islets under the control of the human insulin promoter) were bred with NOD mice to generate (Ins-IL-10 x NOD)F1 progeny, which was backcrossed to NOD mice (NOD.Ins-IL-10) up to the N11 generation. NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice were also crossed to NOD.SCID mice to obtain NOD.SCID.Ins-IL-10 mice. The SCID mutation was verified by flow cytometry. All mice were housed under specific pathogen-free conditions at The Scripps Research Institutes rodent breeding colony.
Production of Dd-transgenic mice
Transgenic NOD mice expressing the Dd MHC class I molecule under its own natural promoter were produced at the Transgenic and Embryonic Stem Cell Core Facility of The Scripps Research Institute. Genomic Dd DNA (Medline access no. 85140250; Ref. 16) in pSV2-Neo was a gift of D.B. Williams (University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada). After digestion with EcoRI from plasmid, purified Dd fragment was injected into NOD mouse zygotes that were implanted into pseudopregnant females. Three mice proved to be transgenic by Southern hybridization. Founder mice were crossed with NOD/Shi mice, NOD.Ins-IL-10, and NOD.SCID.Ins-IL-10 mice.
Genotyping analysis
The MHC haplotype and transgene expression of the mice used in
this study are shown in Table I
. DNA was extracted from tails according to standard protocols using
proteinase K and phenol/chloroform. DNA samples were subject to
genotyping for the IL-10 transgene and the H-2 haplotypes as previously
described (10) or analyzed for polymorphism of
microsatellite markers D17Nds3, TNF, and
D17 Mit13 (Whitehead Institute for Biomedical
Research/Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Genome
Research, Cambridge, MA). PCR conditions, primers, and polymorphism for
microsatellite analysis were derived from The Jackson Laboratory
(Raritan, NJ) database (www.informatics.jax.org).
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Pancreatic tissue was fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin for 24 h, dehydrated, cleared in toluene, and infiltrated with paraffin. Six-micrometer sections were cut at several levels throughout the organ and stained with either hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) or with an immunoperoxidase method (Vector Laboratories, Burlingame, CA) for the detection of insulin with polyclonal Abs to porcine insulin (Dako, Carpinteria, CA).
Flow cytometry
PBL of transgenic NOD-Dd mice were analyzed for the expression of MHC class I Dd molecules by flow cytometry (FACSCalibur; BD Biosciences, Franklin Lakes, NJ) with specific FITC-conjugated mAb (clone 34-2-12; BD PharMingen, San Diego, CA). An isotype- and fluorochrome-matched control (BD PharMingen) was used to set background fluorescence.
Blood glucose measurement
Mice were tested for diabetes once a week by measuring blood
glucose levels with a one-step Bayer Glucometer Elite (Bayer, Elkhart,
IN). Animals were considered diabetic when blood glucose levels were
300 mg/dl in two consecutive measurements.
Statistical analysis
Significance of the data (p < 0.05) was
evaluated by the
2 test using Statview
software (Abacus Concepts, Berkeley, CA).
| Results |
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Pancreatic expression of IL-10 in BALB/c mice (Ins-IL-10) did not cause diabetes (9), but most of the progeny from their backcrosses to NOD mice (NOD.Ins-IL-10) developed accelerated diabetes beginning at 4 wk of age (11). Nonetheless, some NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice were protected from diabetes. To study this protection, we typed mice for the expression of BALB/c-derived H-2 molecules and monitored the progeny for diabetes.
Table II
and Fig. 1
summarize the incidence of diabetes in NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice of N6
to N11 backcross generations. Complete protection was observed at N6
and maintained thereafter in mice expressing BALB/c-derived
H-2d molecules
(NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/d) mice). On the contrary,
NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/g7) mice developed diabetes
and rapidly succumbed to wasting disease. These data indicated that
absence of diabetes in NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/d)
mice associated with inheritance of BALB/c-derived MHC molecules.
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The H-2g7 haplotype of the NOD mouse is characterized by lack of expression of class II I-E molecules and by expression of the I-Ag7 locus (17). The unique MHC class II of the NOD mouse is important for development of autoimmunity (18), because expression of I-Ad or I-E protects NOD mice from development of IDDM (19, 20).
Therefore, we analyzed the progeny of high backcross generations for
the segregation of BALB/c (H-2d) MHC class II
molecules. The results are shown in Table III
. It was found that NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice expressing either
I-Ad (n = 3) or
I-Ed (n = 3) (BALB/c-derived)
class II molecules readily developed diabetes. A NOD.Ins-IL-10 mouse
expressing both I-Ad and
I-Ed molecules also developed diabetes (the
limited number of NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice expressing
I-Ad or I-Ed class II
molecules was dictated by the tightly linked cosegregation of MHC class
II genes). These findings indicated that expression of BALB/c-derived
class II MHC molecules did not influence development of IDDM in
NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice.
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Although expression of BALB/c-derived I-Ad
and I-Ed MHC class II molecules did not protect
NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice from accelerated IDDM, protection occurred when
Dd molecules were coexpressed (Table III
).
Therefore, we focused our attention on the possibility that
BALB/c-derived H-2Dd class I molecules could
confer protection from IDDM. As shown in Table IV
, expression of BALB/c MHC class I Dd molecules
associated with complete protection from IL-10-mediated acceleration of
IDDM. One dose of Dd exerted protective effects
on the development of diabetes, with phenotypic dominance when
coexpressed with the NOD-derived Db.
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Insulitis precedes the development of IDDM in NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice
(11). Therefore, we asked whether protected
NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/d) mice were free from
insulitis. Paraffin-embedded sections from protected mice or from
diabetes-prone NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/g7) mice were
compared for mononuclear infiltration by H&E staining at 8 wk of age.
Pancreata of NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/d) mice had
periinsulitis and/or perivascular infiltrate, but they were free from
insulitis and
cells were intact, as indicated by insulin staining
(Fig. 2
, A and B). On the contrary, sections from
age-matched NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/g7) mice revealed
severe insulitis and
cell loss (Fig. 2
, C and
D). Furthermore, the incidence and severity of insulitis
were greater in NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/g7) mice as
compared with NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/d) mice
(p < 0.001), because
91% of pancreatic
islets from H-2g7/g7 homozygous mice were heavily
infiltrated by lymphocytes, but none of the islets of heterozygous
H-2g7/d mice showed full-blown insulitis (Fig. 2
E).
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The above data suggested that expression of
H-2Dd molecules in NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice could favor
protection from IDDM. Therefore, we decided to directly test the
possibility that Dd molecules were responsible
for protection. We generated transgenic NOD mice expressing
Dd under the control of the MHC class I promoter.
Dd transcription was properly regulated and found
up-regulated on
cells in islets with periinsulitis in
NOD-Dd mice (data not shown). Fig. 3
shows the flow cytometry profile of the constitutive transgene
expression in NOD-Dd mice.
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Next, we asked whether allelic variation of genetic markers linked
to H-2Dd (21, 22) was associated
with protection of heterozygous
NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/d) mice from insulitis and
diabetes. We compared D17Nds3, TNF, and D17
Mit13 microsatellite marker polymorphism of N5 to N7 backcross
generations of Dd-positive NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice
protected from diabetes with backcross-matched
Dd-negative NOD.Ins-IL-10 diabetic mice. We found
that segregation of D17Nds3, TNF, or D17
Mit13 alleles of the BALB/c background into NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice
correlated with protection from diabetes (Table V
).
In fact, diabetic NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice only expressed
NOD-derived alleles, whereas protected mice also expressed
BALB/c-derived alleles. Thus, genetic polymorphism at the
D17Nds3, TNF, and D17 Mit13 loci
confirmed association with the observed dominant protection.
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| Discussion |
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cells. Although protected NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/d)
mice had periinsulitis, islet damage was limited and islet infiltration
possibly related to ICAM-1 hyperexpression on the pancreatic vascular
endothelium (9, 23). Second, the islet lymphomononuclear
infiltrates did not progress to massive infiltration probably because
of local immune regulation. In fact, T cell responses to glutamic acid
decarboxylase were reduced in
NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/d) mice as compared with
NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/g7) mice (data not shown).
Regulatory mechanisms should be particularly effective, because
NOD.Ins-IL-10(H-2g7/d) mice were also completely
resistant to cyclophosphamide-induced diabetes (A.L.C., B.B., and N.S.,
unpublished observations). Although the tight linkage association of the H-2D end with the protective phenotype of heterozygous H-2Dg7/d mice still requires the identification of the gene(s) involved, our finding of an H-2Dd-linked resistance to IDDM is of interest also in consideration of the recent observations by Hattori et al. of undefined MHC-linked gene(s) controlling diabetogenesis in the NOD mouse (24). These authors have suggested that this gene(s) might influence not only diabetes but other diseases as well. How this putative gene(s) could counterregulate pathogenetic autoimmunity needs to be elucidated (24). It would be interesting to know whether the region indicated by Hattori et al. is homologous to the human region encoding the MHC class I chain-related gene A (MICA) gene (and its homologue MICB). Indeed, polymorphism of stress-inducible MICA (25) has been shown to associate with incidence of IDDM (26, 27), suggesting a pathogenetic role of this MHC-linked region. Unfortunately, whether a mouse homologue of MICA may exist is still not known.
Additional evidence for the influence of the H-2D end on susceptibility to IDDM also comes from the studies by Mathews et al. (28). The MHC of the NOD-related CTS/Shi mouse (H2ct) shares MHC class II region identity with the H2g7 haplotype of the NOD mouse but differs at the H2-D end of the MHC complex. Mathews et al. found that congenic transfer of the MHC haplotype of the CTS/Shi strain (H2ct) onto the NOD background resulted in significant reduction of diabetes frequency in congenic females associated with a protective MHC-linked gene at the H2-D end (28).
Our finding of an H-2D-linked resistance to accelerated diabetes in NOD.Ins-IL-10 mice and its inheritance as a dominant trait suggest that an understanding of this gene(s) could have direct applications. In fact, expression of such gene(s) (i.e., by transduction) or its regulated induction during severe IDDM could possibly have an influence on the clinical course of disease.
| Acknowledgments |
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| Footnotes |
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2 A.L.C. and B.B. contributed equally to this work. ![]()
3 Current address: Autoimmunity and Inflammation, Protein Design Laboratories, 34801 Campus Drive, Fremont, CA 94555. ![]()
4 Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Nora Sarvetnick, Department of Immunology IMM-23, The Scripps Research Institute, 10550 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, CA 92037. E-mail address: noras{at}scripps.edu ![]()
5 Abbreviations used in this paper: IDDM, insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus; NOD, nonobese diabetic; Ins-IL-10 mice, transgenic BALB/c mice expressing IL-10 in pancreatic
cells; NOD.Ins-IL-10, progeny from backcross of (Ins-IL-10 x NOD)F1 mice to NOD mice; H&E, hematoxylin and eosin. ![]()
Received for publication March 2, 2001. Accepted for publication May 1, 2001.
| References |
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cells in nonobese diabetic mice. J. Exp. Med. 179:1379.
T cell recognition of evolutionarily distant members of the MIC family of major histocompatibility complex class I-related molecules. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:12510.This article has been cited by other articles:
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A. Ueno, S. Cho, L. Cheng, Z. Wang, B. Wang, and Y. Yang Diabetes Resistance/Susceptibility in T Cells of Nonobese Diabetic Mice Conferred by MHC and MHC-Linked Genes J. Immunol., October 15, 2005; 175(8): 5240 - 5247. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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D. Zhang, K. Fujio, Y. Jiang, J. Zhao, N. Tada, K. Sudo, H. Tsurui, K. Nakamura, K. Yamamoto, H. Nishimura, et al. Dissection of the role of MHC class II A and E genes in autoimmune susceptibility in murine lupus models with intragenic recombination PNAS, September 21, 2004; 101(38): 13838 - 13843. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF] |
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