Defining Optimal Immunotherapies for Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) can be managed by administration of insulin, but the search continues for a more permanent cure. Hopes were high in the early 1990s, when the similarity between mouse and human MHC class II diabetes susceptibility genes had been discovered, and a cure seemed at hand via modulating interactions between CD4+ T cells and such MHC molecules. Unfortunately pathogenesis of T1D is much more complex, polygenic, dependent on disease penetrance on multiple environmental factors, and likely to involve the participation of CD4+, CD8+ and B lymphocytes. Additionally, islet ²-cell destruction might involve mechanisms that differ among individuals.

Since T1D is an autoimmune disease, a likely strategy in this search for a cure seems to be modulation of the immune system. This book therefore brings together contributions from leaders in the arena of clinical immunotherapy, not limited to the diabetes field.

Topics discussed focus on the following questions:
- When and where does the co-ordination of the immune responses leading to islet destruction take place?
- What are the crucial histopathological features of human diabetes, and are these accurately reflected in mouse models?
- Can we define the functional features of pathogenic response, and can we assess whether these allow prediction of T1D development on an individual basis?
- Can we delineate a roadmap for successfully prioritizing and accelerating immunotherapeutics in T1D?

Defining optimal immunotherapies for type 1 diabetes offers a comprehensive and up-to-date account of immunological strategies for preventing or treating T1D, and will be of particular interest to diabetologists and endocrinologists, both clinicians and researchers, as well as to immunologists and molecular or cell biologists and drug discovery scientists. The book also considers T1D within the broader context of autoimmune disease, and is therefore of interest to clinicians and researchers working on any such disease.