Project 454367

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is an autoimmune disease that occurs when the immune system mistakenly kills the beta cells in the pancreas that produce the hormone, insulin. A true cure for T1D requires the immune system to be reset, so that it no longer attacks the pancreas, and for the insulin-producing beta cells to be replaced or regenerated. We have assembled a unique team of experts in the biology of immune cells and insulin-producing beta cells in diabetes, to study how these cells interact in diabetes, and understand why the immune system becomes over-activated and kills the insulin-producing beta cells and causes T1D. We will focus on a growing area of research known as immunometabolism, which is the study of how metabolic pathways inside cells affect their ability to divide and function. We propose that changes in metabolic pathways within beta cells and immune cells may enhance the immune attack on the pancreas. We will study metabolic pathways in immune cells in health and in T1D. Through this work we hope to gain a better understanding of how changes in metabolism in immune cells may influence autoimmunity, and to design ways to alter these metabolic pathways in immune cells to prevent or slow T1D.