Absence of CXCL10 prolongs islet graft survival in an autoimmune mouse model for Type 1 Diabetes

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) results from the autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta-cells in the pancreas. The chemokine CXCL10 seems to play an important role in the recruitment of autoaggressive lymphocytes to the islets of Langerhans in Type 1 Diabetes (T1D). Since transplantation of isolated islets is a promising therapy of T1D, but has been hampered by the fact that islet grafts get rejected even in presence of an immunosuppressive regimen, we intended to investigate a possible influence of CXCL10 on the islet rejection process. In order to investigate the autoimmune rejection we used diabetic RIP-LCMV-…