Peptides and methods for the treatment of diabetes
The invention relates to peptides such as HCPYCSLQPLALEGSLQKRG [SEQ ID NO: 26] and their use in the treatment of type 1 diabetes and the generation of cytolytic CD4+ T cell.
1. A method of treating type 1 diabetes comprising administering to a subject in need thereof a therapeutically sufficient amount of an immunogenic peptide comprising the amino acid sequence of HCXX[CST]SLQPLALEGSLQK [SEQ ID NO:7] or H[CST]XXCSLQPLALEGSLQK [SEQ ID NO:8] wherein X stands for any amino acid, and wherein the peptide has a length of between 12 and 50 amino acids.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the amino acid sequence comprises HCXXCSLQPLALEGSLQK [SEQ ID NO: 9] wherein X stands for any amino acid.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the amino acid sequence consists of HCPYCSLQPLALEGSLQKRG [SEQ ID NO: 26].
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the amino acid sequence consists of HCXX[CST]SLQPLALEGSLQK [SEQ ID NO:7] or H[CST]XXCSLQPLALEGSLQK [SEQ ID NO:8] wherein X stands for any amino acid.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the amino acid sequence consists of HCXXCSLQPLALEGSLQK [SEQ ID NO: 9] wherein X stands for any amino acid.