Fatty acid binding protein 4 promotes autoimmune diabetes by recruitment and activation of pancreatic islet macrophages.

ABSTRACT: Both innate and adaptive immune cells are critical players in autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing β cells in type 1 diabetes. However, the early pathogenic events triggering the recruitment and activation of innate immune cells in islets remain obscure. Here we show that circulating fatty acid binding protein 4 (FABP4) level was significantly elevated in patients with type 1 diabetes and their first-degree relatives and positively correlated with the titers of several islet autoantibodies. In nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice, increased FABP4 expression in islet macrophages started from the neonatal period, well before the occurrence of overt diabetes. Furthermore, the spontaneous development of autoimmune diabetes in NOD mice was markedly reduced by pharmacological inhibition or geneti

SUBMITTER: Xiao Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8119222 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature