Abstract

Use of a Novel 3D Islet Spheroid Platform to Model and Understand Auto- and Allo-Immune Attacks on Human Islets

Matthias von Herrath, Vice President and Senior Medical Officer, NovoNordisk; Professor La Jolla Institute, NovoNordisk

Over the past years we have engineered an in vitro system that can replicate key aspects we have seen in human type 1 diabetes pathogenesis, such as upregulation of MHC class I and II on islets, attack by cytotoxic T cells as well as mixed allo- and auto-immune attacks. We will demonstrate the system's utility, notably that the readout is very sensitive in respect to beta cell function (glucose induced insulin secretion), rather than cell death. This system can be helpful in understanding which factors and pathways are key for beta cell destruction and their relative importance. It is also useful in evaluating the ability of beta cell targeted therapies to lower the immune attack.