Team: Sakthi Rajendran, Estefania Quesada-Masachs and Mehdi Benkahla
IL-17 is a pro-inflammatory cytokine important in shaping host immune responses against pathogens. IL-17 is also attributed to cause tissue damage and chronic inflammation in autoimmune diseases such as psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis. An increase in IL-17 secreting CD4+ T cells and Th17 cells was observed in pancreatic lymph nodes and peripheral blood of subjects with type 1 diabetes (T1D). IL-17 knock-out mice had reduced insulitis and delayed onset of T1D. Similarly, treatment with anti-IL-17 prevented the onset of T1D in NOD mice. However, it is not known whether IL-17 is expressed in human pancreata in health and during T1D or T2D pathogenesis. Here, we use multiplex immunoflorescence imaging for detecting IL-17 in the islet of donors with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. We aim to perform in-vitro islet studies to test whether IL-17 can be induced in islets upon metabolic or immune stress.
