Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) is an autoimmune disease that leads to the destruction of insulin-producing pancreatic β cells over months or years, causing an absolute deficiency of insulin. It is one of the most common chronic diseases in childhood and the incidence is increasing, especially in children less than 5 years of age. The T1D patient cohort is highly heterogeneous, with individuals presenting with disease at different stages and severities. It affects 8.4 million individuals globally and requires careful management to avoid serious long-term complications, including heart and kidney disease, stroke, and loss of sight. At present, the “one-size-fits-all” treatment for type 1 diabetes is exogenic insulin substitution therapy, but this approach fails to achieve optimal blood glucose control in many individuals.
Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent antigen-presenting cells (APCs) that bridge innate and adaptive immunity and direct antigen-specific immune responses. Tolerogenic dendritic cells (tolDCs) are regulatory immune cells that have the therapeutic potential to counteract T1D. Embedding them in distinct biomaterials like PEG hydrogels has been shown to affect the phenotype of the tolDCs differentially. Therefore, we aim to find the optimal formulation variables and hydrogel constituents that help in designing the DC environment to direct the DC phenotype to influence immune responses for DCs derived from T1D patients.