Genome-Wide Gene Expression Profiles in the Pancreatic Lymph Nodes of non-obese diabetic (NOD) mice

Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is a polygenic autoimmune disorder caused by autoreactive T cells that recognize pancreatic islet antigens and subsequently destroy insulin-producing β-cells. Pancreatic lymph nodes (PLN) are an essential site for the development of T1D, where tolerance to pancreatic self-antigens is first broken and the autoimmune responses are amplified. The purpose of this study was to identify candidate genes and pathways in the PLN that may contribute to the pathogenesis of T1D using a mouse model of T1D. Genome-wide gene expression was measured in individual NOD PLN at 10 days (n=6), 4 weeks (n=6) or 12 weeks of age (n=5), against a pooled sample of age-matched NOD.B10 PLN as the control (n≥6), using Agilent Whole Mouse Genome Microarrays.