Modelling human vascular diabetes and deciphering epigenetic regulation in diabetes-associated infections

Individuals with diabetes are at a higher risk of developing infections, including bacterial infections, due to impaired immune responses. Escherichia coli (E. coli), a Gram-negative bacterium, is commonly associated with diabetes-related infections such as urinary tract infections (UTIs), diabetic foot ulcers, and sepsis.<br><br>Endothelial cells (ECs) form the inner lining of blood vessels and the lymphatic system, directly interacting with blood and circulating immune cells.

This thesis elucidated the involvement of epigenetic regulators in aggravating inflammation in ECs derived from diabetic (DB) donors in response to E. coli infection. ECs derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS-ECs) were used in this study as a model to investigate E. coli-induced infection.<br><br>The study demonstrated that E. coli infection induced an inflammatory response in iPS-ECs derived from both non-diabetic (ND) and diabetic (DB) donors, as evidenced by elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, and adhesion molecules.