Alteration of intra-pancreatic target-organ specificity by abrogation of Aire in NOD mice
J. Clin. Invest. Shino Niki, et al. 116:1292 doi:10.1172/JCI26971 [Go to this article.]

Figure 2
Augmented autoimmune phenotypes with altered intra-pancreatic target-organ specificity in Aire-deficient NOD mice. (A) Augmentation of existing autoimmune phenotypes of NOD mice by abrogation of Aire. In Aire-deficient NOD mice, lymphocytic infiltration in the pancreas was much more severe than that in control littermates (left panels). In many Aire-deficient NOD mice, acinar tissues were completely destroyed by marked lymphocytic infiltration, leaving relatively well-preserved β cell islets together with pancreatic ducts densely surrounding the β cell islets alone (middle panels). The 2 boxed panels are photographs taken of the same sample with different magnifications. Sialoadenitis was also much more severe in Aire-deficient NOD mice (right panels). (B) Lymphoid cell infiltration in the liver, lung, and thyroid gland from Aire-deficient NOD mice. (C) NOD-scid mice transferred with mature T cells purified from Aire-deficient NOD mice showed lymphocytic infiltration predominantly in acinar tissues, and the structure of the β cell islets was relatively well preserved (middle and right panels). In contrast, NOD-scid mice transferred with Aire-sufficient NOD mouse T cells showed lymphocytic infiltration into β cell islets, resulting in reduced size and numbers of β cell islets (left panel). Arrows indicate the 1 small β cell islet remaining. Original magnification, ×100, except where indicated.