This is important because once we understand this death and how it's played out, we may be able to inhibit the process. The study was supported by the American Diabetes Association, the National Institutes of Health and The Juvenile Diabetes Foundation. This cell suicide is called apoptosis. The suicides are somehow orchestrated by T cells, the security guards of the immune system responsible for detecting foreign invaders. The T cells might release proteins that trigger apoptosis, or they might encourage the suicide in a less direct way.
Apoptosis plays an important role in the body.
As we develop, it helps clear excess cells. Also, the immune system kills a variety of abnormal cells, including cancerous and virally infected cells, by inducing apoptosis. Many researchers suspected T cells killed pancreas cells through apoptosis. Others thought T cells might surround the pancreas cells and block the flow of blood and nutrients, thus starving them to death. Cells Caught in Act of Dying Researchers worldwide spent many frustrating years trying to find a pancreas cell in its death throes, a task that seemed to require the luck of a lottery winner.