12/15-lipoxygenase (12/15-LO) is an enzyme responsible for the metabolism of arachidonic acid to pro-inflammatory responses by immune cells in a variety of tissues, including pancreatic islets and fat tissues. Our extensive research has shown that type 1-like diabetes development is significantly diminished in the absence of 12/15-lipoxygenase. By using 12/15-LO deficient C57BL/6 mice, we were able to show that these mice were protected from developing diabetes following multiple low-dose streptozotocin treatment. We then developed a non-obese diabetic (NOD) mouse line congenic for this deletion, and saw an extremely significant decrease in the rate of spontaneous diabetes as compared to wild-type NOD mice. We are moving forward to develop 12/15-LO inhibitors that might be used therapeutically. In order to maximize the productivity of these compounds, it would be extremely beneficial to garner information from type 1 and type 2 diabetic human samples. Namely, we are interested in testing the expression of 12/15-LO in human pancreas, lymph node, and spleen samples, so we can determine which cells produce this enzyme in the requested tissues.
