Targeting Immune Cell Protein May Prevent Type 1 Diabetes

Immune cells are so clever. They can detect any foreign material that they encounter. They have memory and will remember past invaders. But they can also be destructive, harming the body’s own tissues, and memory is a known culprit.

Repeated encounters with a known molecule—called an antigen—in the body are a key feature of autoimmunity, including type 1 diabetes (T1D).

But what if you could halt immune cell memory? Meaning that you can present the immune cell to an antigen that it’s already seen, and it remains inactive.

JDRF-funded researchers have discovered a protein on immune cells that, when it is disabled, might just do that. It’s called OCA-B.

Normally, OCA-B helps ensure that immune cells can easily be reactivated if they reencounter the same antigens at a later date. But blocking the activity of OCA-B put the immune cells in a non-responsive state. What’s more: Those that were prone to developing T1D were protected from the disease if they lacked OCA-B!

These results were published in the Journal of Experimental Medicine. JDRF-funded researchers who were involved include the lead author, Dean Tantin, Ph.D., Brian D. Evavold, Ph.D., Danny H.-C. Chou, Ph.D., three of whom have received grants from JDRF, and all based at the University of Utah.