Event Abstract Back to Event Differential regulation of T cell responses and disease severity by mycoplasma and its superantigen in autoimmune diabetic mice Maziar M. Nourian1 and Hong H. Mu1* 1 University of Utah School of Medicine, United States Infection has been extensively documented as a serious problem causing high mortality and morbidity in diabetic populations. Due to the complex nature of immunological mechanisms, little is known regarding how an infection affects the outcomes of diabetes. Our laboratory has previously established a mouse model of septic shock by infecting mice with the Mycoplasma arthriditis. M. arthritidis produces a potent superantigen (SAg) MAM, which has been shown to be at least partially responsible for the lethal toxicity induced in certain susceptible mouse strains. In the present study, we have investigated how diabetic immune cells respond to the M. arthritidis and MAM SAg. By using two well-defined animal models of diabetes, STZ and NOD mice, we found that STZ mice infected with M. arthritidis developed severe lethal toxicity and the immune cells predominantly produced pro-inflammatory cytokines TNFα, IL-6, IL-1β, chemokines CCR2/4 and Tbx21, a Th1-related transcription factor; while MAM-activated T cells from NOD mice display a mixture of Th1 and Th17 profiles which are associated with the elevated levels of ICOS molecule and a unique transcription factor LSF (tfcp2). Since ERK, a signaling protein of MAPK family, is reported to be responsible for the phosphorylation of LSF in T cell activation, we propose a novel ERK-LSF-ICOS signaling cascade is required for the Th1/Th17 development in NOD mice in response to MAM. Our findings further suggest that the inhibition of these molecules might be potentially therapeutic in the alleviation of mortality and morbidity in diabetic individuals with severe infections. Acknowledgements This work was supported by a grant from the Nora Eccles Treadwell Foundation Keywords: Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1, mouse models, innate immunity, Adaptive Immunity, Mycoplasma Infections, superantigen, Signaling Pathways Conference: 15th International Congress of Immunology (ICI), Milan, Italy, 22 Aug - 27 Aug, 2013. Presentation Type: Abstract Topic: Immune-mediated disease pathogenesis Citation: Nourian MM and Mu HH (2013). Differential regulation of T cell responses and disease severity by mycoplasma and its superantigen in autoimmune diabetic mice. Front. Immunol. Conference Abstract: 15th International Congress of Immunology (ICI). doi: 10.3389/conf.fimmu.2013.02.00091 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 08 Mar 2013; Published Online: 22 Aug 2013. * Correspondence: Dr. Hong H Mu, University of Utah School of Medicine, Salt Lake City, United States, hong-hua.mu@hsc.utah.edu Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Maziar M Nourian Hong H Mu Google Maziar M Nourian Hong H Mu Google Scholar Maziar M Nourian Hong H Mu PubMed Maziar M Nourian Hong H Mu Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.