INDUCTION OF TYPE-I DIABETES BY INTERFERON-ALPHA IN TRANSGENIC MICE

Type I diabetes is an autoimmune disease involving an interaction betw een an epigenetic event (possibly a viral infection), the pancreatic b eta cells, and the immune system in a genetically susceptible host. Th e possibility that the type I interferons could mediate this interacti on was tested with transgenic mice in which the insulin-producing beta cells expressed an interferon-alpha. These mice developed a hypoinsul inemic diabetes associated with a mixed inflammation centered on the i slets. The inflammation and the diabetes were prevented with a neutral izing antibody to the interferon-alpha. Thus, the expression of interf eron-alpha by the beta cells could be causal in the development of typ e I diabetes, which suggests a therapeutic approach to this disease.