U.S. scientists say they've taken the first step toward starting a misdirected immune system attack that might prevent development of type 1 diabetes.

Washington University School of Medicine scientists working with diabetic mice said they have examined in unprecedented detail the immune cells thought to be responsible for type 1 diabetes.

They examined the immune cells from isolated insulin-making structures in the pancreas and observed the immune cells, known as dendritic cells, carrying insulin and fragments of insulin-producing cells known as beta cells.

The achievement, the researchers said, might be the first step toward starting a misdirected immune system attack that destroys the cells which prevent the body from making insulin causing type 1 diabetes.

Now that we've isolated dendritic cells from the pancreas, we can look at why they get into the pancreas and determine which of the materials that they pick up are most critical to causing this form of diabetes, said the study's senior author, Dr. Emil Unanue.

The study is reported in the online early edition of The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

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