Insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus is believed to occur as a result of a T cell-mediated destruction of the islets of Langerhans. The factors that regulate the T cell responses, in particular the costimulatory signals required for the T cell activation, which result in islet cell destruction, are still unclear. CD28/B7 interactions have been shown to be important in the regulation of T cell immune responses. We, therefore, have examined the role of CD28/B7 interactions in a model of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus in which T cell-dependent insulitis and hyperglycemia occur over a brief period, following multiple low doses of streptozotocin (multidose streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes mellitus). Expression of CD28 was necessary for diabetes because CD28 -/- C57BL/KsJ animals developed neither hyperglycemia nor insulitis, and did not express IFN-gamma mRNA following STZ, unlike CD28 +/- C57BL/KsJ mice. The expression of B7-1 (CD80) and B7-2 (CD86) molecules was closely regulated during development of the disease. Expression of both CD80 and CD86 increased on cells in pancreatic lymph nodes in STZ-treated C57BL/KsJ mice. Expression of only CD86 increased on islet cells in diabetic mice. In wild-type animals, treatment with mAb against CD86 prevented, whereas treatment with mAb against CD80 exacerbated, insulitis and hyperglycemia, indicating that mAbs against these molecules differentially affect development of disease. We conclude that CD28 signal transduction is required for development of diabetes in multidose STZ-induced diabetes mellitus. CD80 and CD86 molecules, the CD28/CTLA4 ligands, may have different roles in regulation of the disease and affect T cell function at steps beyond differentiation into mature phenotypes.