Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) and Insulin Resistance (IR) are two pandemic metabolic diseases that are reportedly increasing worldwide. Therefore, there is an urgent demand to develop new regenerative-medicine approaches based on the use of in-vitro self-derived spare tissues. We apply the reprogramming technology to the selected cohort of patients’ fibroblasts with the high reported risk of developing IR and T2DM and healthy controls. We then use this cellular platform to obtain in-vitro glucose sensitive cell types to potentially unravel basic transcriptional and epigenetic mechanisms underlying the onset and progression of T2DM. 

Maryam Alowaysi, Elisabetta Fiacco, Veronica Astro, Antonio Adamo.

Establishment of iPSC lines from a high-grade Klinefelter Syndrome patient (49-XXXXY) and two genetically matched healthy relatives (KAUSTi003-A, KAUSTi004-A, KAUSTi004-B, KAUSTi005-A, KAUSTi005-B, KAUSTi005-C).

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1873506120303093

Maryam Alowaysi, Junyan Chen, Sierra Stark, Kristine Teague, Monique LaCourse, Joanna Proctor, Katie Vigil, Jeremy Corrigan, Aja Harding, Jinze Li, Timothy Kurtti, Jianmin Zhong.

Isolation and characterization of a Rickettsia from the ovary of a Western black-legged tick, Ixodes pacificus,Ticks and Tick-borne Diseases.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877959X18303509

Somatic cell reprogramming into iPSCs/Differentiation

CRISPR-Cas9

PCR/RT-qPCR

RNA-FISH

Immunofluorescence staining

Imaging with confocal laser scanning microscope (ZEISS LSM 880 with Airyscan)

TruSeq Stranded mRNA Library Preparation

10x genomics single-cell library preparation.

Biological and Environmental Science and Engineering Division (BESE)

KAUST Environmental Epigenetics Program (KEEP)