Type 1 diabetes: how interferon-α impacts human pancreatic β-cells

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a chronic autoimmune disease leading to pancreatic islet inflammation (insulitis) and progressive beta cell loss.

Prof. Decio L. Eizirik, Welbio Researcher at the ULB Center for Diabetes Research, ULB, and Scientific Director of the Diabetes Center at the Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, and colleagues in a multinational collaboration, used an innovative “multi-omics” approach combining genomic, transcriptomic and proteomic techniques with advanced bioinformatic tools to analyse the initial changes present in human beta cells exposed to the cytokine IFNα, a cytokine that plays an important role in the early stages of type 1 diabetes. The project, starting with use of complex omics technology and bioinformatics lead to the eventual identification of two agents that may be one day re-purposed for the early treatment of T1D.

Source : ULB Center for Diabetes Research

Picture provided by ULB Center for Diabetes Research

Reference : Colli, M. L., Ramos-Rodríguez, M., Nakayasu, E. S., Alvelos, M. I., Lopes, M., Hill, J. L. E., … Eizirik, D. L. (2020). An integrated multi-omics approach identifies the landscape of interferon-α-mediated responses of human pancreatic beta cells. Nature Communications 11(1): 2584. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-16327-0