Type 1 diabetes (T1D) results from autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic islet ?-cells ? a long asymptomatic period spanning many months to years. Currently, autoantibodies to ? cell autoantigens serve to identify those at increased risk, yet additional biomarkers are needed to better understand the ?-cell destruction process and predict progression from persistent islet autoimmunity (IA) to T1D. We hypothesize that: 1) protein profiles in serial blood plasma samples collected prior to and after development of islet autoantibodies will predict time to T1D onset independently of islet autoantibodies; and 2) proteins released from the pancreas into the peripheral blood contain signatures of the ongoing ?-cell destruction process during the pre-T1D phase. The long-term goal of this project is to provide better diagnostic and prognostic markers so IA positive subjects can be staged for individualized therapy to prevent overt T1D, and to gain additional insights into the pathogenesis of this disease. In the present application, we are aiming to identify pancreatic and ?-cell specific protein markers in plasma that are associated with the appearance of IA and predict the rate of progression from IA to T1D. This will be achieved using advanced proteomic technologies and by comparative analysis of longitudinal plasma proteome profiles of subjects with T1D, pre- diabetic IA and controls enrolled in large scale longitudinal clinical studies.

Public Health Relevance

The annual incidence rate of type 1 diabetes is increasing 3-5% annually, over the past 40 years. Currently, T1D affects approximately 1.4 million people in the U.S. The proposed research will comprehensively identify novel protein and peptide markers and evaluate their utility for prediction and early diagnosis of T1D and to gain further insight into the pathogenesis of this disease.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01DK114345-04
Application #
9931215
Study Section
Clinical and Integrative Diabetes and Obesity Study Section (CIDO)
Program Officer
Sechi, Salvatore
Project Start
2017-07-01
Project End
2022-05-31
Budget Start
2020-06-01
Budget End
2021-05-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2020
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
University of North Carolina Greensboro
Department
Miscellaneous
Type
Organized Research Units
DUNS #
616152567
City
Greensboro
State
NC
Country
United States
Zip Code
27402
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Liu, Chih-Wei; Zhang, Qibin (2018) Isobaric Labeling-Based LC-MS/MS Strategy for Comprehensive Profiling of Human Pancreatic Tissue Proteome. Methods Mol Biol 1788:215-224