Udi Ehud Knebel, Shani Peleg, Chunhua Dai, Roni Cohen-Fultheim, Sara Jonsson, Karin Poznyak, Maya Israeli, Liza Zamashanski, Benjamin Glaser, Erez Y Levanon, Alvin C Powers, Agnes Klochendler, Yuval Dor
A major hypothesis for the etiology of type 1 diabetes (T1D) postulates initiation by viral infection, leading to double-stranded RNA (dsRNA)-mediated interferon response and inflammation; however, a causal virus has not been identified. Here, we use a mouse model, corroborated with human islet data, to demonstrate that endogenous dsRNA in beta cells can lead to a diabetogenic immune response, thus identifying a virus-independent mechanism for T1D initiation. We found that disruption of the RNA editing enzyme adenosine deaminases acting on RNA (ADAR) in beta cells triggers a massive interferon response, islet inflammation, and beta cell failure and destruction, with features bearing striking similarity to early-stage human T1D...
December 9, 2023: Cell Metabolism