Check GAD antibody positivity with the Diamyd anti-GAD RIA plate*

More support for the autoimmunetheory came in the early1970’s when Dr. Bottazzo andDr. Doniach and colleagues atthe Middlesex Hospital inLondon first detected antibodiesto pancreatic islet cells in people with newly diagnoseddiabetes. The antibodies, which react to the cytoplasminside all islet cells, came to be called cytoplasmicislet cell antibodies or ICAs.Antibodies are a part of the immune system responsecalled the humoral response. Made by white blood cellscalled B lymphocytes, specific antibodies are designed toattack specific foreign proteins or antigens. It was unclear,however, whether the beta cells were actually destroyedby these antibodies or by components of the cellularimmune response, such as the killer T lymphocytes or“T cells”.In the mid-1970’s, Dr. Lernmark, who had developed atechnique for isolating beta cells from isolated islets of1990In a majorbreakthrough,scientistsidentify the64K proteinas GAD1991Scientistsdiscover that 64Kprotein isGAD65, thesmaller formof GADStudy showsthat T cellstargetGAD651993Research teamsprevent diabetesin NOD mice byinactivating GAD-Reactive T cellsResearcherssuggest 64Kantibodies maybe earlypredictor ofdiabetesMolecularbiologistssequence twoforms of GAD– GAD65 andGAD67 – fromislet cellsStudies showthat someICAs only reactto GAD65Two studiesestablish GADas first knowntarget of T cellsin diabeticNOD micethe Langerhans, was researching proteins on the surface ofbeta cells at the University of Chicago. While involved inthis research, he attended a lecture in ICAs in Chicago byDr. Doniach. During the lecture, he realized that it mustbe the proteins on the surface of the beta cells that provokedantibodies in diabetes, and he turned his research inthat direction. He and other researchers at the Universityof Chicago treated pancreatic islets cells from rats withblood serum from children who had diabetes for less thanfive years. They discovered that some of these childrenhad antibodies to proteins on the surface of the islet cells,called islet cell surface antibodies or ICAs. However, theydid not know which specific proteins had attracted theantibodies.The 64,000 Mystery ProteinIn the late 1970’s, Dr. Lernmark became Director ofResearch at the Hagedorn Research Laboratory inDenmark, where he continued to work with ICAs. Heenlisted the aid of Dr. Baekkeskov, who had developeddmccad june 2003page 7