Adhesion of lymphocytes to the endothelial venules inside the islets of Langerhans seems to initiate the infiltration of islets in NOD mice. An overexpression of the lymphocyte surface molecule CD44 in infiltrated NOD islets compared with peripheral blood lymphocytes was recently reported. The CD44 protein family includes a variety of molecules generated by alternative RNA splicing from 10 variant exons (v1–v10). By using reverse transcriptase–polymerase chain reaction followed by Southern blotting and hybridization to exon-specific cDNA probes, we investigated the expression of CD44 isoforms in highly purified islets of Langerhans from 4- and 10-week-old NOD mice. At least six CD44 isoforms were strongly overexpressed in NOD islets at 4 and 10 weeks when compared with age-matched BALB/c islets. Controls in different tissues indicate that these variants are specifically increased in the islets from the NOD strain. Islets from the NOD-scid/scid strain also expressed these variant exons. Splenocytes from BALB/c did not express CD44 isoforms, whereas splenocytes from 4-week-old NOD mice did express CD44 variants. Treatment with inflammatory mediators induced new isoforms; however, these transcripts have a different variant exon composition from that found in NOD mice islets. These results suggest that some isoforms are expressed very early in the development of insulitis by a component of the NOD islet itself and underscore a possible role of CD44 in islet infiltration.
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Original Articles|
June 01 1996
Expression of a Specific Subset of CD44 Variant Transcripts in NOD Pancreatic Islets
Kerstin F Milde;
Kerstin F Milde
Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine
Miami, Florida
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Miriam Alonso;
Miriam Alonso
Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine
Miami, Florida
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Shen Shen Kong;
Shen Shen Kong
Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine
Miami, Florida
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Rodolfo Alejandro;
Rodolfo Alejandro
Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine
Miami, Florida
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Daniel H Mintz;
Daniel H Mintz
Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine
Miami, Florida
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Ricardo L Pastori
Ricardo L Pastori
Diabetes Research Institute, University of Miami School of Medicine
Miami, Florida
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Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Ricardo L. Pastori, Diabetes Research Institute R-134, University of Miami School of Medicine, 1450 N.W. 10th Ave., P.O. Box 016960, Miami, FL 33101.
Diabetes 1996;45(6):718–724
Article history
Received:
July 31 1995
Revision Received:
January 18 1996
Accepted:
January 18 1996
PubMed:
8635643
Citation
Kerstin F Milde, Miriam Alonso, Shen Shen Kong, Rodolfo Alejandro, Daniel H Mintz, Ricardo L Pastori; Expression of a Specific Subset of CD44 Variant Transcripts in NOD Pancreatic Islets. Diabetes 1 June 1996; 45 (6): 718–724. https://doi.org/10.2337/diab.45.6.718
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