Tolerogenic Vaccination Reduced Effector Memory CD4 T Cells and Induced Effector Memory Treg Cells for Type I Diabetes Treatment

BACKGROUND Vaccination could induce immune tolerance and protected NOD mice from the development of type I diabetes (T1D). We previously demonstrated that insulin peptide (B9-23) combined with dexamethasone (DEX) stimulated the expansion of antigen specific regulatory T (Treg) cells which in turn effectively prevented T1D in NOD mice. Here, we aimed to investigate the therapeutic effect of tolerogenic vaccination for T1D treatment. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS The diabetic NOD mice (Blood glucose level ≧250 mg/dl) were treated with B9-23 and DEX twice. The tolerance was restored by blocking maturation of dendritic cells (DCs) and inducing Treg cells in treated NOD mice. Remarkably, the reduction of autoreactive effector memory CD4 T (Tm) cells and the induction of functional effector memory Treg (mTreg) cells contributed to the improvement of T1D in treated NOD mice. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE Tolerogenic vaccination restored tolerance and ameliorated T1D by suppressing effector CD4 Tm cells and inducing effector mTreg cells. Our findings implicate the potential of tolerogenic vaccination for T1D treatment.