The Iacocca Family Foundation

Dr. Stojanovic and her group explore novel approaches for generation of highly efficient and stable insulin-specific T regulatory cells that can be used for suppressing type 1 diabetes. The basic idea of this project is to utilize insulin-specific effector T cells (from NOD mice) that promote beta cell destruction and convert them in vitro into insulin-specific T regulatory cells using different manipulations. These manipulations include interference with specific signaling pathways crucial for effector phenotype of T cells, conversion of the metabolic state of the cells toward T regulatory phenotype, epigenetic modifications that promote activation of key genes for T regulatory cell phenotype, or combinations of the mentioned approaches. Finally, the efficiency of converted insulin-specific cells with T regulatory phenotype will be tested in the prophylactic or therapeutic time-frame in NOD mice. Hopefully, the results of this study will lead to shaping the fast and easy protocol for generation of highly-efficient and stable antigen-specific T regulatory cells for the treatment of type 1 diabetes or autoimmunity in general.

Dr. Ivana Stojanović