期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:1993
卷号:90
期号:22
页码:10494-10498
DOI:10.1073/pnas.90.22.10494
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:Leukocyte adhesion to the endothelial venules in the pancreatic islets is thought to be one of the initial steps in the development of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus. It has been suggested that leukocyte adhesion to endothelium is a sequential multistep process involving various different homing receptors. We report here that blocking different homing receptors--namely, L-selectin and very late antigen 4 (VLA-4)--which function during different stages of the adhesion process, by specific monoclonal antibodies inhibits insulitis and prevents diabetes in mice. Moreover, leukocyte attachment to the inflamed vessels within pancreatic sections could be inhibited by anti-L-selectin and anti-VLA-4 antibodies. Interestingly, anti-L-selectin or anti-VLA-4 antibody did not appear to influence the autoimmune response to a panel of pancreatic beta-cell autoantigens. These data suggest that L-selectin and VLA-4 receptors are involved in mediating leukocyte homing to the islets and that intervention of these two adhesion pathways may provide a novel approach for treatment of autoimmune diseases such as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus.