Means, Motive, and Opportunity: Do Non-Islet-Reactive Infiltrating T Cells Contribute to Autoimmunity in Type 1 Diabetes?
Journal: Frontiers in Immunology
Year: 2021

In human type 1 diabetes and animal models of the disease, a diverse assortment of immune cells infiltrates the pancreatic islets. CD8<sup>+</sup> T cells are well represented within infiltrates and HLA multimer staining of pancreas sections provides clear evidence that islet epitope reactive T cells are present within autoimmune lesions. These <i>bona fide</i> effectors have been a key research focus because these cells represent an intellectually attractive culprit for β cell destruction. Howe