Boston Children’s Hospital Finds Root Cause of Diabetes

This seems to be the peer-reviewed journal article: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;diabetes.diabetesjournals.org&#x2F;content&#x2F;62&#x2F;5&#x2F;1665.abstract" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;diabetes.diabetesjournals.org&#x2F;content&#x2F;62&#x2F;5&#x2F;1665.abstr...</a><p>From reading the abstract, it seems that inhibiting the mentioned pathway prevents islet cell transplant rejection. Arguing that the same mechanism is &quot;the root cause of type I diabetes&quot; sound like sensationalist speculation.

Does discovering the mechanism through which diabetes is caused in animals directly correlate to the process that causes diabetes in humans? I would assume it is a good indicator given the number of studies that use animals, but can they really claim they have definitely identified the root cause?