How immune stem cells and thymus cells may cause type 1 diabetes
Understanding thymic epithelial and hematopoietic stem cell-intrinsic immune abnormalities driving T1D in optimized HIS mouse models
Testing whether immune stem cells and thymus-derived cells from people with type 1 diabetes cause immune mistakes that attack insulin-producing beta cells.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Columbia University Health Sciences NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (New York, United States) |
| Project ID | NIH-11251253 on NIH RePORTER |
What this research studies
If you have type 1 diabetes, researchers can use your blood stem cells to build a personalized human-like immune system inside special mice so they can watch how your immune cells develop. They will also turn cells made from your own skin or blood into insulin-producing 'beta-like' cells and thymus-supporting cells to see how your immune system reacts to your own tissues. By adding known diabetes-reactive immune receptor genes and using thymus tissue to guide development, they compare whether self-reactive immune cells survive in people with T1D versus healthy donors. The aim is to pinpoint whether defects in the thymus or in stem cells drive the immune attack on beta cells and to create a human-relevant model for future therapies.
Who could benefit from this research
Good fit: Ideal participants are people with type 1 diabetes (and healthy volunteers) willing to donate blood or stem-cell-containing samples for laboratory modeling.
Not a fit: This is not a treatment trial, so participants should not expect direct or immediate clinical benefit.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could reveal causes of the autoimmune attack in T1D and guide new strategies to prevent or stop that attack.
How similar studies have performed: Humanized immune-system mouse models have previously shown immune selection differences in T1D, but combining those models with patient-derived stem-cell beta and thymic cells is a newer, less-tested approach.
Where this research is happening
New York, United States
- Columbia University Health Sciences — New York, United States (Active)
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Sykes, Megan — Columbia University Health Sciences
- Study coordinator: Sykes, Megan
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.