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J. Exp. Med.,
Volume 188, Number 10, November 16, 1998 1831-1839
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281
Transgenic Nonobese Diabetic Mice against Diabetes
By

From * INSERM U 25, Hôpital Necker, 75743 Paris, France; and the Progression to destructive insulitis in nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice is linked to the failure of
regulatory cells, possibly involving T helper type 2 (Th2) cells. Natural killer (NK) T cells might be involved in diabetes, given their deficiency in NOD mice and the prevention of diabetes by adoptive transfer of
Department of Molecular
Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey 08544
/
double-negative thymocytes. Here, we evaluated the role of
NK T cells in diabetes by using transgenic NOD mice expressing the T cell antigen receptor (TCR)
chain V
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281 characteristic of NK T cells. Precise identification of NK1.1+ T
cells was based on out-cross with congenic NK1.1 NOD mice. All six transgenic lines showed,
to various degrees, elevated numbers of NK1.1+ T cells, enhanced production of interleukin
(IL)-4, and increased levels of serum immunoglobulin E. Only the transgenic lines with the
largest numbers of NK T cells and the most vigorous burst of IL-4 production were protected
from diabetes. Transfer and cotransfer experiments with transgenic splenocytes demonstrated that V
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281 transgenic NOD mice, although protected from overt diabetes, developed a
diabetogenic T cell repertoire, and that NK T cells actively inhibited the pathogenic action of
T cells. These results indicate that the number of NK T cells strongly influences the development of diabetes.
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