Karges W, Gaedigk R, Hui M F, Cheung R, Dosch H M
The Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Department of Pediatrics, Ontario, Canada.
Biochim Biophys Acta. 1997 Apr 12;1360(2):97-101. doi: 10.1016/s0925-4439(97)00002-1.
The islet cell antigen ICA69 is an autoimmune target in most patients with insulin-dependent diabetes. Understanding its role in diabetic autoimmunity would be facilitated by an animal model. We therefore cloned mouse ICA69. The different splice variants now identified conserve Tep69, the single T cell epitope recognized by patient T cells. We show that diabetes-prone NOD mice had Tep69-specific, autoreactive T cell repertoires and thus provide a relevant model for the study of ICA69's role in diabetic autoimmunity.
