Immune Response to Extracellular Vesicles From Human Islets of Langerhans in Patients With Type 1 Diabetes.

The autoimmune response that characterizes type 1 diabetes (T1D) has no clear cause. Extracellular vesicles (EVs) play an important role in triggering the immune response in other contexts. Here, we propose a model by which EVs isolated from human islets stimulate proinflammatory immune responses and lead to peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) activation. We show that human islet EVs are internalized by monocytes and B cells and lead to an increase in T-helper 1, 2, and 17 cytokine expression, as well as T and B cell proliferation. Importantly, we demonstrate memory T and B cell activation by EVs selectively in PBMCs of patients with T1D. Additionally, human islet EVs induce an increase in antibodies against glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65) in T1D PBMCs. Furthermore, pretreatment of T1D PBMCs with ibrutinib, an inhibitor of Bruton tyrosine kinase, dampens EV-induced memory B cell activation and GAD65 antibody production. Collectively, our findings indicate a role for human islet EVs in mediating activation of B and T cells and GAD65 autoantibody production.

Presence of diabetes autoantigens in extracellular vesicles derived from human islets.

Beta-cell (ß-cell) injury is the hallmark of autoimmune diabetes. However, the mechanisms by which autoreactive responses are generated in susceptible individuals are not well understood. Extracellular vesicles (EV) are produced by mammalian cells under normal and stressed physiological states. They are an important part of cellular communication, and may serve a role in antigen processing and presentation. We hypothesized that isolated human islets in culture produce EV that contain diabetes autoantigens (DAA) from these otherwise normal, non-diabetic donors. Here we report the caspase-independent production of EV by human islets in culture, and the characterization of DAA glutamic acid decarboxylase 65 (GAD65) and zinc transporter 8 (ZnT8), as well as the ß-cell resident glucose transporter 2 (Glut2), present within the EV.

Differential expression of cytokines in subcutaneous and marrow fat of aging C57BL/6J mice.

Increasing marrow adipogenesis plays a causative role in the pathogenesis of age-related bone loss that could be associated with high cytokine production. In this study, we characterized the age-related changes in cytokine expression by bone marrow (BM) adipocytes as compared with subcutaneous (SC) fat. BM and SC adipocytes were isolated from young (4 months) and old (24 months) male C57BL/6J. Total proteins were extracted and proteomic analysis of 96 cytokines was performed using a cytokine antibody array. Proteins showing a significant change were grouped according with their known function in bone. We found a significant age-induced difference in the expression of 53 cytokines. As compared with SC adipocytes, aging BM adipocytes showed a more pro-adipogenic, anti-osteoblastogenic and pro-apoptotic phenotype. These data suggest that, with aging, BM adipocytes become significantly more toxic than SC adipocytes. These cytokines, if secreted, could play a role in the pathogenesis of age-related bone loss by affecting other cells within the marrow milieu.