The search for an immunological cure for type 1 diabetes mellitus should focus on preventing the maturation or inactivation of autoreactive T cells to stop the destruction insulin-producing beta cells. Inactivation of autoreactive T cells can be achieved in two ways. First, antigen-presenting cells, such as dendritic cells, which present self-antigens, can be modified to prevent maturation or expression of the costimulatory receptor. Second, the T cell may remain in a naive state or be inactivated after activation by an antigen-presenting cell. Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is classified into type 1, insulin dependent, and type 2, insulin resistant, and the emphasis will be on the former. Type 1 diabetes is a chronic autoimmune disease that occurs when insulin-producing beta cells are destroyed by autoreactive CD8 T cells.1 Beta cells are endocrine cells that secrete only insulin and are found in islets of Langerhans of the pancreas. When the first clinical symptoms of diabetes appear in a patient, 80% of beta cells have already been destroyed.1When large quantities of beta cells are destroyed, only a fraction of insulin is left for the body to use, which is often not enough to support function. Type 1 diabetes affects approximately 30 million people worldwide.1 There is no cure for type 1 diabetes, and a person with the disease should monitor their blood sugar and give themselves manual insulin injections to regulate these levels. However, using insulin injections is not a cure. In type 1 diabetes, antigen presenting cells present beta cell self-antigens to CD4.2 T cells. Activated autoreactive CD4 T cells then produce the cytokine IL-2 which in turn.... .. middle of paper......:4-13. Available from: MEDLINE with full text, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 19, 2013.4. Phillips B, Trucco M. Immunotherapy-based strategies for the treatment of autoimmune diabetes: searching for the cure. Current pharmaceutical design [online series]. 2011;17(29):3217-3223. Available from: MEDLINE with full text, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 19, 2013.5. Roep B. The role of T lymphocytes in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes: from cause to cure. Diabetologia [online series]. March 2003;46(3):305-321. Available from: MEDLINE with full text, Ipswich, MA. Accessed November 19, 2013.6. Claiborn K, Stoffers D. Toward a cellular cure for diabetes: advances in beta cell production and transplantation. The Mount Sinai Journal Of Medicine, New York [online series]. August 2008;75(4):362-371. Available from: MEDLINE with full text, Ipswich, MA. Accessed in November 19, 2013.