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From the Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri
| Abstract |
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A major hurdle in understanding the role of various leukocytes in T1DM is the large and varied time span between peri-insulitis and onset of diabetes (in NOD mice it can be anywhere between 10 to 14 weeks). Moreover, the presence of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells makes it difficult to dissect the effector pathways used by each to induce islet ß-cell death. To this end, we have examined an accelerated model of T1DM using the diabetogenic CD4+ T cell, BDC2.5, expressed as a T-cell receptor (TCR) transgene in NOD mice (from here on referred to as BDC T cells). BDC T cells recognize an unidentified islet ß-cell antigen presented by the I-Ag7 class II MHC molecule of NOD mice.13 Activated BDC T cells transfer diabetes into NOD.scid recipients in a short period of time with reproducible kinetics and incidence.14-16 This model has several advantages: 1) the T cell inducing diabetes is a bona fide islet ß-cell-reactive T cell initially isolated from islet-infiltrating leukocytes in NOD mice; 2) the time between injection of BDC T cells and onset of diabetes can be shortas early as a week depending on the number of cells transferred; and 3) BDC T cells induce diabetes on their own without the need for any other CD4+ or CD8+ T cell. In summary, this model offers an opportunity to analyze the role of various leukocytes (that form the insulitic infiltrate) in diabetes induced by CD4+ T cells. Here we investigate how BDC T cells affect ß-cell viability by selective depletion of leukocytes. We conclude that activated macrophages cause ß-cell death in this model of acute diabetes.
| Materials and Methods |
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The BDC2.5 TCR transgenic mice on the NOD background and B6.G7 congenic mice were established in our mouse colony at Washington University School of Medicine. NOD mice on the scid genetic background, NOD.CB17-Prkdcscid/J or on the Rag-1/, NOD.129S7(B6)-Rag1tm1Mom/J were obtained from The Jackson Laboratory (Bar Harbor, ME) and were maintained in our mouse colony, and are referred to as NOD.scid and NOD.Rag mice, respectively. All experimental mice were 6 to 8 weeks old.
Adoptive Transfer
Splenocytes from BDC2.5 mice were cultured at 37°C in Dulbeccos minimal essential medium with 10% fetal calf serum and concanavalin A (5 µg/ml) (Sigma Chemical Co., St. Louis, MO) at a final cell concentration of 2 x 106 per ml. After 3 days of culture, cells were washed once with 4 ml of 0.2 mol/L methyl
-D-mannopyranoside (1:10) (Sigma Chemical Co.) and 36 ml of Dulbeccos minimal essential medium and then in 10 ml of Dulbeccos minimal essential medium. A dose range between 106 to 107 activated BDC2.5 cells were transferred intravenously via the tail vein in a 0.5-ml volume. The recipient mice were followed for diabetes incidence. Two consecutive readings of blood glucose of
250 mg/dl, measured by a glucometer (Bayer, Elkhart, IN), were indicative of diabetes. Control experiments established that the transfer was entirely dependent on the BDC T cells in the inoculum: transferring purified BDC T cells or the unpurified cells gave identical results. NOD.Rag and congenic B6.G7 mice received 650 and 750 rads, respectively, before the adoptive transfer of BDC T cells. In pilot experiments, we had established the doses required for sublethal irradiation and found that NOD strains were more sensitive to irradiation.
Histology and Immunohistochemistry
Mice were anesthetized with ketamine and sacrificed by cervical dislocation. The pancreata were fixed in 10% formalin. Slides were stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). For detection of insulin, 5-µm serial sections were deparaffinized and stained with the HistoMouse-SP kit (AEC, Broad Spectrum, Bulk) (Invitrogen, Carlsbad, CA) using guinea pig anti-insulin polyclonal antibody (1:100) (Linco, St. Charles, MO). For insulin staining by immunofluorescence, sections were incubated overnight at 4°C with guinea pig anti-insulin polyclonal antibody (1:100) (Linco) followed by Texas Red-conjugated goat anti-guinea pig secondary antibody (1:100) (Jackson ImmunoResearch, West Grove, PA). All sections were counterstained with bis-benzamide (Sigma) for 5 minutes, washed in phosphate-buffered saline (PBS), quenched to reduce background autofluorescence with Sudan Black (Sigma) (Sudan black 0.5% in 70% ethanol) for 3 minutes, and finally rinsed in PBS. For antigen-presenting cell staining by immunofluorescence, serial 5-µm sections from embedded frozen pancreata (in Tissue-Tek compound; VWR International, West Chester, PA) were stained for 1 hour at room temperature with phycoerythrin-conjugated anti-mouse CD11b (1:100) and phycoerythrin-conjugated anti-mouse CD11c (1:100) (eBioscience, San Diego, CA).
Electron Microscopy
Pancreata from untreated and day 4 after adoptive cell transferred mice were removed and fixed in modified Karnovskys fixative (2% paraformaldehyde, 3% glutaraldehyde in 0.1 mol/L cacodylate buffer) for 24 hours and then processed for electron microscopy analysis. Pancreatic endocrine granules of mice were determined based on their electron density, size, and shape reported previously by other groups.17,18
Selective Depletion in Vivo by Antibodies
For neutrophil depletion, NOD.scid mice received 500 µg of RB6-8C5 monoclonal antibody (mAb)19
or isotype rat IgG (Sigma) intraperitoneally in 0.5 ml of PBS 1 day before and 2 days after cell transfer. We corroborated the high effectiveness of RB6-8C5 mAb depletion of neutrophils by three different approaches: 1) flow cytometry analysis of peripheral blood leukocytes, 2) examination of peripheral blood smears, and 3) direct neutrophil counts on H&E-stained slides from pancreata at the time of diabetes onset. This same batch of antibodies was used previously by us and our colleagues in various experimental situations.19,20
Natural killer (NK) cell depletion in the NOD.scid mouse was performed by intravenous administration of 200 µg of anti-asialo GM1 (Wako Chemicals, Richmond, VA) or isotype rabbit IgG (Sigma) (days 1, 3, and 7).21,22
NK cell depletion in B6.G7 congenic mice was achieved by injecting 500 µg of anti-NK1.1 monoclonal antibody or isotype mouse IgG2a
(UPC-10) (Sigma) intraperitoneally on days 1, 3, and 7.23,24
Liposome Preparation and in Vivo Application
Multilamellar liposomes containing clodronic acid disodium salt (Cl2MDP) (Sigma) in PBS (CLOD-LIP) were prepared as described by van Rooijens laboratory.25,26 In brief, 86 mg of phosphatidyl choline (Sigma) and 8 mg of cholesterol (Sigma) were dissolved in 10 ml of chloroform and dried in vacuo in an evaporator to form a lipid film. The lipid was dispersed in 10 ml of PBS for preparation of PBS-containing liposomes (PBS-LIP). To enclose the Cl2MDP, 2.5 g of Cl2MDP was dissolved in 10 ml of deionized water (adjusted to pH 7.3 with NaOH) in which the lipid film was dispersed. The preparations were kept for 2 hours at room temperature, sonicated for 3 minutes, and then incubated overnight at 4°C. Nonencapsulated Cl2MDP was removed by centrifugation and then washed three times in sterile PBS. Finally, the pellet was resuspended in 4 ml of sterile PBS. A volume of 0.1 ml of liposome suspension for every 10 g of body weight was injected intravenously for 4 consecutive days starting 24 hours after BDC T-cell transfer.
Isolation of Mouse Islets
Mouse islets were isolated as described before and dispersed by trypsinization.27 In brief, usually approximately seven mice were sacrificed per islet preparation by cervical dislocation. Hanks solution (Invitrogen) was injected into the common bile duct and then the pancreas was resected, cut into small evenly sized pieces, and digested in collagenase at 39°C in a shaking water bath for 5 minutes. The tissue suspension was then centrifuged through a Ficoll (Sigma) gradient of 23, 20.5, and 11% at 1800 rpm for 12 minutes at room temperature. Purified islets were removed from the top two interfaces and washed twice in Hanks solution, then handpicked under a dissecting microscope. For cell dispersion, islets were gently digested with trypsin solution in a 37°C water bath for 3 minutes and then washed in CMRL medium 1066 (Invitrogen) several times. Infiltrating islet leukocytes were obtained from diabetic NOD.scid mice that received the BDC T cells. In brief, islets were processed as above except that all of the Ficoll interfaces were removed. The pooled Ficoll layers were then resuspended in a 50-ml conical tube with Hanks solution and washed three times.
Flow Cytometry
Spleen cells and infiltrating islet leukocytes were stained for different cellular markers. Leukocytes were stained with a fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-labeled anti-CD45(Ly-5) antibody; T cells were stained with either an FITC-labeled anti-CD4+ (L3T4) or FITC-labeled anti-CD3
chain antibody; neutrophils were stained with an FITC-labeled anti-Gr-1(RB6-8C5) antibody. Macrophages were analyzed with an FITC-labeled anti-F4/80 or FITC-labeled anti-CD11b antibody, whereas dendritic cells were analyzed with an FTIC-labeled anti-CD11c antibody. For NK cell analysis, we used a biotinylated anti-CD49b/Pan-NK and secondary stain was performed with streptavidin-allophycocyanin; NK cells were defined as CD3
-negative and CD49b/Pan-NK-positive. All antibodies used were obtained from BD Biosciences, San Jose, CA. All FACS analysis was performed on a FACSCalibur and data analyzed using CellQuest software (BD Biosciences).
Cytotoxicity Assay
Cytotoxicity killing assay was performed using chromium-labeled YAC-1 cells and peritoneal exudate cells to corroborate effectiveness of NK cell depletion treatment following the Current Protocols in Immunology.28 For assays testing the cytotoxicity of the macrophages for ß cells, islet-infiltrating leukocytes from acute diabetic mice and ß cells from NOD.scid mice were isolated and dispersed as described previously. Phagocytes were enriched by positive selection using magnetic cell sorting cell separation columns with mouse CD11b (Mac-1) and CD11c MicroBeads (Miltenyi Biotec, Auburn, CA). ß cells were labeled with chromium-51 (50 µCi per 106 ß cells) (MP Biomedicals, Irvine, CA) for 1.5 hours at 37°C, 5% CO2, and then washed three times in Dulbeccos minimal essential medium-10% fetal calf serum. ß cells were plated in a 96-well, round-bottom plate at a concentration of 104, and phagocytes were added at a 50:1 ratio (5 x 105). Supernatant was collected at different time points (0, 4, and 12 hours) and chromium released was measured using an automatic gamma counter (1272 Clinigamma LKB; Wallac, Tlurku, Finland). The percentage of specific chromium release (experimental release) was calculated from the maximum levels released by detergent lysis of ß cells (maximal release) after subtracting the amount released spontaneously in cultures of ß cells without macrophages (spontaneous release).28
Statistical Analysis
The Mann-Whitney U-test was used for determining the level of significant differences in sample means.
| Results |
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BDC T cells isolated from spleens of transgenic mice were activated with concanavalin A and then transferred intravenously into NOD.scid recipient mice. As shown in Figure 1A
, diabetes developed in a dose-dependent manner: in 100% of mice between days 6 to 9 when 3 to 10 x 106 T cells were injected, and in 80% at day 20 when only 106 BDC T cells were transferred. This condensed window of induction of diabetes by BDC T cells had several histological features. Infiltration with a variety of cells, particularly macrophages and neutrophils, were first noticed on the 3rd day, becoming more prominent in the next several days (Figure 1B)
. After day 4, the exudate progressively penetrated the islets and disrupted their normal architecture. By the 7th day, the inflammation was extensive and few insulin-positive ß cells could be found, which correlated with the onset of hyperglycemia (Figure 1, C and D)
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Host Leukocytes
To determine whether leukocytes derived from the host were needed to initiate diabetes, the ability of BDC T cells to transfer disease was tested in the temporal absence of host leukocytes. NOD.Rag mice irradiated to eliminate bone marrow-derived leukocytes were used as recipients. As shown in Figure 4
, at day 5 after transfer BDC T cells induced diabetes in 100% of the control mice while none in the irradiated mice. The irradiated recipient mice developed hyperglycemia at day 17 after transfer when hematopoiesis was restored and new host leukocytes infiltrated the pancreas (Figure 4A)
. Histological analysis of pancreatic islets from irradiated mice at day 5 after BDC T cell transfer (ie, the same time point at which 100% of the control unirradiated mice were diabetic) showed intact islets with the presence of few leukocytes (Figure 4B)
, but by day 19, the mice from the same treatment group contained islets that exhibited a disrupted architecture with an extensive leukocytic infiltrate (Figure 4C)
. These results demonstrated that the activated BDC T cells on their own did not cause diabetes but rather needed the presence of host leukocytes.
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For neutrophil depletion, NOD.scid recipient mice were treated with either the depleting RB6-8C5 mAb or an isotype control rat IgG and then injected with activated BDC T cells. Flow cytometry analysis of blood leukocytes indicated
95% depletion of neutrophils, 48 hours after injection. As shown in Table 1
, both sets of recipient mice developed diabetes with similar kinetics and incidence. The islet infiltrate from the neutrophil-depleting RB6-8C5 antibody-treated mice contained abundant macrophages. The reverse situation was shown in the experiment of Figure 6
reported below: selective depletion of macrophages resulted in exudates enriched in neutrophils but without damage to ß cells. Moreover, twenty islets from each mouse were analyzed for the number of neutrophils present. As shown in Table 2
, whereas isotype-treated mice showed a mean of 139 neutrophils per islet, RB6-8C5 mAb-treated mice showed a mean of eight neutrophils per islet.
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In both our acute model as well as the wild-type NOD model of diabetes, leukocytes belonging to the monocyte lineage (ie, macrophage and dendritic cells) form a major component of the islet infiltrate (Figure 3)
.29-33
Other studies in NOD mice and BB rat demonstrated that macrophages were essential for development of disease.29,34-39
To test the requirement for macrophages in BDC T-cell-induced diabetes, we used the protocol developed by N. van Rooijen and colleagues25,26
to deplete phagocytic cells. Previous studies demonstrated the successful elimination of circulating monocytes using this protocol.40-43
In brief, several injections of CLOD-LIP were administered to NOD.scid mice, which then received an inoculum of activated BDC T cells. Flow cytometry analysis of spleens from control or experimental mice at the 6th day after T-cell transfer showed complete depletion of phagocytic cells in the CLOD-LIP-treated mice. As shown in Figure 6
, the control mice treated with PBS-LIP contained normal numbers of F4/80+ and CD11b/c+ cells, whereas those treated with CLOD-LIP exhibited a total absence of them (Figure 6B)
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BDC T cells caused diabetes in control mice treated with PBS-LIP, whereas disease was markedly reduced in incidence, and delayed in time, in mice that received CLOD-LIP. Although 100% of the mice that received PBS-LIP were diabetic at day 6 only 33% were diabetic at day 30, 5 of 15, in the CLOD-LIP-treated group (Figure 6A)
. It is important to mention that the last day of treatment with CLOD-LIP or PBS-LIP was at day 4 after T-cell transfer, and the delayed onset of diabetes in experimental mice was likely attributable to the presence of new circulating monocytes that emerged after clodronate treatment. Histopathological analysis of the pancreas from control (PBS-LIP) and experimental (CLOD-LIP) mice showed inflammation; ie, there was a response to the BDC T-cell transfer (Figure 6, CF)
; however, there were some unique features noted in mice treated with CLOD-LIP: 1) a high number of neutrophils were noted in the islet infiltrate; 2) macrophages were conspicuously absent; 3) abundant apoptotic bodies were found, most likely from dead neutrophils; and 4) intact islet ß cells that contained insulin were evident (Figure 6G)
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The transfer of BDC T cells into the CLOD-LIP-treated mice resulted in severe inflammation with a paucity of activated macrophages indicating that the BDC T cells had been stimulated in the pancreas by the local antigen-presenting cells (APCs) normally residing in it. (Of note, the transfer of inflammation and diabetes required local presentation: transfer into allogeneic scid mice was completely ineffective.) Therefore, an important issue in using the clodronate-depletion protocol was to identify whether this treatment also depleted the intrapancreatic resident phagocytes. To address this, the same regimen of liposome treatment (CLOD- or PBS-LIP) was administered to normal NOD.scid mice. Although blood monocytes were entirely depleted, immunofluorescence analysis (Figure 7A)
and statistical analysis (Mann-Whitney U-test) indicated that treatment with CLOD-LIP did not deplete intrapancreatic APCs (F4/80+, CD11b+, and CD11c+) (Figure 7, B and C)
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40%) was observed at 12 hours after incubation of phagocytes with islet ß cells. This was a direct demonstration that macrophages recruited to the inflamed islets were capable of killing islet ß cells.
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| Discussion |
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Although past studies have noted the importance of macrophages in experimental diabetes, the precise nature of their involvement whether as direct effectors of ß-cell cytotoxicity in vivo or as antigen-presenting cells remained unclear.29,34,38,39 Several studies in the past suggested that inhibition of diabetes in macrophage-depleted NOD mice was a likely result of impaired priming and expansion of diabetogenic CD4+ and CD8+ T cells,34-36,39 whereas other in vitro assays demonstrated that activated macrophages could lyse pancreatic ß-tumor cells.44-46 For example, the result that depletion of macrophages via silica particles in NOD mice or BB rats resulted in protection from diabetes was interpreted to suggest an important role for macrophages in the priming of diabetogenic T cells.29,37,38 Another feature noted in these studies was the marked reduction in the incidence of insulitis in macrophage-depleted mice.29,37 Other groups used clodronate-dependent elimination of macrophages in NOD mice to demonstrate protection from diabetes.34,39 Here again, young NOD mice that were depleted of macrophages were unable to generate cytotoxic T cells, thereby implicating the macrophage as an essential accessory cell for the differentiation of effector diabetogenic T cells.34 Moreover, as seen in the previous studies with silica administration, the clodronate-treated NOD mice also exhibited protection from insulitis,34 which was in agreement with the lack of priming of diabetogenic T cells responsible for recruitment of the inflammatory infiltrate in the pancreas. An interesting study by Jun and colleagues39 also followed the development of diabetogenic CD8+ T cells in macrophage-depleted mice. Their results clearly demonstrated that these CD8+ T cells were unable to differentiate into cytotoxic T cells when the host was depleted of macrophages. Taken together, these previous reports demonstrated the important role for macrophages in many stages of diabetogenesis, including priming and differentiation of autoreactive T cells and induction of insulitis. The difference between the reported experiments and ours lies in the experimental setup: we used already activated T cells ready to induce disease, which occurred in a short period of time. Hence we bypassed the initial stages of T-cell activation to focus primarily on the final effector stages of islet ß-cell killing. Thus, our studies definitively established a role of the phagocyte as an effector cell in ß-cell death.
What are the molecular details of macrophage-mediated islet ß-cell death? Is ß-cell killing a result of direct cell-cell contact, or can soluble molecules mediate this killing? We believe that the pathway leading to islet ß-cell death by macrophages is a likely consequence of cell-cell contact although we cannot discard the action of soluble mediators at this time. Our evidence presented in this report supports the action of macrophage-mediated islet ß-cell death because of several reasons: electron micrographs of islet infiltrates demonstrated the presence of macrophages adjoining dying ß cells, and importantly, islets from mice deficient in inducible nitric-oxide synthase were efficiently destroyed by BDC T cells.15
Moreover, NOD mice that harbor a mutation in the inducible nitric-oxide synthase gene developed diabetes with the same kinetics and penetrance as wild-type NOD mice (personal communication with John Mudgett, Merck Inc., San Diego, CA). Further, cytotoxicity assays as shown in Figure 8
(and by others44-46
) needed the presence of macrophages. We are currently in the process of evaluating cell-surface molecules that are expressed by activated macrophages (included among these are members of activating NK receptor family) that may interact with their cognate ligand on the surface of islet ß cells. It is important to note that in our model a role for Fas/FasL in mediating ß-cell death is minor because Fas-deficient islets are efficiently destroyed by activated BDC T cells.15
Finally, are activated macrophages also a participant in the natural disease? Certainly activated macrophages are a component of the infiltrate at the aggressive phase of the disease, that is, at the time of diabetes development.31-33
From previous data in the wild-type NOD mice, both T-cell subsets are needed for induction of diabetes.4-7
However, the precise role of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells in inducing the death of islet ß cells needs to be carefully evaluated. It is generally accepted that CD8+ T-cell-mediated cytotoxicity of ß cells is a result of a direct interaction involving the Fas/FasL or the perforin/granzyme pathway8-12
; however, the observation that diabetogenic CD8+ T cells in macrophage-depleted NOD mice are unable to induce diabetes suggests that the macrophage could also be operational in this situation.39
CD8+ T cells produce cytokines such as interferon-
that activate macrophages and may also activate the phagocytic cells to differentiate into islet ß-cell killers. Moreover, the nature of cooperativity that exists between CD8+ and CD4+ T cells in autoimmune diabetes may also involve an intermediary phagocytic cell. A previous report by Kanagawa and colleagues47
demonstrated the need for I-Ag7-restricted CD4+ T cells for diabetogenic CD8+ T cells to cause diabetes. Deciphering the molecular details of macrophage-mediated islet ß-cell death in our experimental mouse model will shed new insights into pathogenesis of T1DM and may identify new targets for modulation of autoimmune diabetes.
| Acknowledgements |
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| Footnotes |
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Supported by the National Institutes of Health and the Kilo Diabetes and Vascular Research Foundation.
Accepted for publication September 6, 2006.
| References |
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