Diminished AMPK signaling response to fasting in thioredoxin-interacting protein knockout mice

Thioredoxin-interacting protein (Txnip) knockout (TKO) mice exhibit impaired response to fasting. Herein, we showed that activation of adenine monophosphate-activated protein kinase and cellular AMP levels were diminished in the heart and soleus muscle but not in gastrocnemius muscle of fasting TKO mice. Similarly, glycogen content in fasted TKO mice was increased in oxidative muscles but was not different in glycolytic muscles. These data suggest Txnip deficiency has a higher impact on oxidative muscle than glycolytic muscles and provide new insights into the metabolic role of Txnip.     

BDC12-4.1 T-Cell Receptor Transgenic Insulin-Specific CD4 T Cells Are Resistant to In Vitro Differentiation into Functional Foxp3+ T Regulatory Cells

The infusion of ex vivo-expanded autologous T regulatory (Treg) cells is potentially an effective immunotherapeutic strategy against graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) and several autoimmune diseases, such as type 1 diabetes (T1D). However, in vitro differentiation of antigen-specific T cells into functional and stable Treg (iTreg) cells has proved challenging. As insulin is the major autoantigen leading to T1D, we tested the capacity of insulin-specific T-cell receptor (TCR) transgenic CD4⁺ T cells of the BDC12-4.1 clone to convert into Foxp3⁺ iTreg cells. We found that in vitro polarization toward Foxp3⁺ iTreg was effective with a majority (>70%) of expanded cells expressing Foxp3. However, adoptive transfer of Foxp3⁺ BDC12-4.1 cells did not prevent diabetes onset in immunocompetent NOD mice. Thus, in vitro polarization of insulin-specific BDC12-4.1 TCR transgenic CD4⁺ T cells toward Foxp3⁺ cells did not provide dominant tolerance in recipient mice. These results highlight the disconnect between an in vitro acquired Foxp3⁺ cell phenotype and its associated in vivo regulatory potential.     

Temporal Intra-Individual Variation of Immunological Biomarkers in Type 1 Diabetes Patients: Implications for Future Use in Cross-Sectional Assessment

Multiple immune parameters such as frequencies of autoreactive CD4⁺, CD8⁺ T-cells and CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ T-cells have been explored as biomarkers in human T1D. However, intra-individual temporal variation of these parameters has not been assessed systematically over time. We determined the variation in each of these parameters in a cohort of T1D and healthy donors (HDs), at monthly intervals for one year. Despite low intra- and inter-assay co-efficient of variation (CV), mean CVs for each of the immune parameters were 119.1% for CD4⁺ T-cell-derived IFN-γ, 50.44% for autoreactive CD8⁺ T-cells, and 31.24% for CD4⁺CD25⁺Foxp3⁺ T-cells. Further, both HDs and T1D donors had similar CVs. The variation neither correlated with BMI, age, disease duration or insulin usage, nor were there detectable cyclical patterns of variation. However, averaging results from multiple visits for an individual provided a better estimate of the CV between visits. Based on our data we predict that by averaging values from three visits a treatment effect on these parameters with a 50% effect size could be detected with the same power using 1.8–4-fold fewer patients within a trial compared to using values from a single visit. Thus, our present data contribute to a more robust, accurate endpoint design for future clinical trials in T1D and aid in the identification of truly efficacious therapies.