IMMUNOLOGY2026™ Conference Recordings For Attendees-Diabetogenic CD8 Tcells are highly adaptive in beta-cell antigen recognition

Diabetogenic CD8 Tcells are highly adaptive in beta-cell antigen recognition

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Video Summary

Yan-Yan Zhang discussed how beta-cell–reactive CD8 T cells contribute to type 1 diabetes and how some escape thymic negative selection. Using mouse models of insulin-specific, IGRP-specific, and foreign-antigen CD8 T cells, the lab found that autoimmune T cells can survive despite high self-antigen recognition. They measured TCR-pMHC interactions and showed clone-specific “plasticity” in bond behavior: insulin-specific cells shifted from slip to catch bonds between thymus and periphery, while IGRP-specific cells maintained strong catch bonds, with greater CD8 coreceptor contribution. In contrast, flu-specific control cells did not show the same autoimmune-like changes. They also showed that weakening thymic insulin presentation enhanced later self-reactivity. Overall, thymic antigen exposure and selection pressure shape later autoimmune recognition by CD8 T cells.

Meta Tag

Date April 16, 2026 8:45 AM - 9:00 AM

Room 104AB

Session Cellular & Molecular Mechanisms of Autoreactivity

Speaker Yanyan Zhang

Track Basic Autoimmunity (BA)

Year 2026

Keywords

type 1 diabetes

beta-cell-reactive CD8 T cells

thymic negative selection

TCR-pMHC interactions

autoimmune recognition

April 16, 2026 8:45 AM - 9:00 AM

104AB

Cellular & Molecular Mechanisms of Autoreactivity

Yanyan Zhang

Basic Autoimmunity (BA)

2026