Plasmacytoid Dendritic Cells Are Proportionally Expanded at Diagnosis of Type 1 Diabetes and Enhance Islet Autoantigen Presentation to T-Cells Through Immune Complex Capture

Abstract

The plasmacytoid subset of dendritic cells is overrepresented in the blood close to diabetes onset and shows a distinctive ability to capture islet autoantigenic immune complexes and enhance autoantigen-driven CD4 T-cell activation. This suggests a synergistic proinflammatory role for plasmacytoid dendritic cells and islet cell autoantibodies in type 1 diabetes.