Deficiency of macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) inhibits cytokine-induced IL-1β generation in murine pancreatic islet cells

In diabetes, pancreatic islets are subjected to high levels of inflammatory mediators that can lead to beta cell destruction. We recently showed that pancreatic islet cells derived from MIF-deficient (MIF-KO) mice are resistant to apoptosis induction by the cytotoxic stimuli of cytokines. Here we show that MIF-KO islets under cytokine (IFN-γ+TNF- α+IL-1β) stimulation express and secrete significantly lower amounts of IL-1β, while the expression of caspase-1 mRNA is not influenced by MIF deficiency. These data suggest that MIF-KO islets possess an innate defect in the process of IL-1 β synthesis and secretion.