News & Research

    National Jewish Center, Denver, Colorado

The role of gamma/delta T cells in type 1 diabetes

General Research Subject: Type 1 Diabetes

Focus: Immunology

Type of Grant: Basic Science

Project Start Date: July 1, 2011

Project End Date: June 30, 2014

Research Description

Several publications have suggested that a relatively rare T cell type, known as the gamma/delta T cell, is important in determining whether or not type 1 diabetes develops.  Moreover, these cells were shown in complex experimental models to play a suppressive role in the development of type 1 diabetes, but it is not yet clear whether they are also able do so during spontaneous development of the disease.  The purpose of this study is to determine whether these gamma/delta T cells in a more normal setting affect the incidence or severity of mouse type 1 diabetes, determine the characteristics of the suppressive gamma/delta T cells, and towards potential therapeutic trials, begin to dissect the mechanism by which they mediate their suppression effect.  This work could lead to new methods of slowing or preventing type 1 diabetes, via the stimulation of suppressive gamma/delta T cells.

Research Profile

What area of diabetes research does your project cover? What role will this particular project play in preventing, treating and/or curing diabetes?

My research will investigate processes that occur during the development of type 1 diabetes.  I plan to investigate whether gamma delta T cells can help to prevent or reduce the severity of type 1 diabetes in a mouse model of the disease, whether they alter the responses of other T cells that instigate the disease by attacking the islets of the pancreas, and to test whether certain factors released by gamma delta T cells, called cytokines, are critical for their protective role.  My results could point to new ways to reduce the severity of type 1 diabetes, by stimulating the responses of particular gamma delta T cells.

If a person with diabetes were to ask you how your project will help them in the future, how would you respond?

My project could reveal new methods of treating type 1 diabetes, either by directly targeting the responses of certain gamma delta T cells, or by suggesting ways to alter cytokines that are produced in this disease.

Why is it important for you, personally, to become involved in diabetes research? What role will this award play in your research efforts?

I am interested in type 1 diabetes primarily as an autoimmune disease.  Autoimmune disorders affect an estimated 5-8 percent portion of the population in the US, and type 1 diabetes is an example of  an autoimmune disease which is not only life-threatening but is also debilitating and can destroy the quality of life.  My research expertise is focused on immunobiology of gamma delta T cells, and my previous work has shown that these cells can be critical in preventing damage due to autoimmunity.  This award from the ADA will allow me to further pursue my work by investigating the role that gamma delta T cells play in type 1 diabetes. 

In what direction do you see the future of diabetes research going?

Understanding what processes go wrong during normal immune processes in individuals that go on to develop type 1 diabetes is key to further progress in preventing and treating this disease.  I am enthusiastic about many new findings which suggest that defects in T cell tolerance are key in these processes, and hope to contribute to this by investigating how gamma delta T cells influence the development of tolerance.