Problem

Irregular sleep has a major negative impact on insulin production. Disruption of our endogenous clock (or circadian rhythm) is associated with modern lifestyle and has a major negative impact on metabolic health. Genetically ablating the circadian clock in rodents leads to diabetes development. Also, human pancreatic islets obtained from type II diabetic donors display compromised molecular circadian oscillators in vitro and compromised islet hormone secretion. The molecules underlying disturbed circadian rhythms are poorly understood, especially in humans.

 

Solution

The goal of this project research is to identify key molecules controlling the circadian oscillation of insulin sensitivity in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue and unravel causes of insulin resistance and type II diabetes. Here, in vitro studies in primary human cultured cells and in human volunteers will be performed to identify these molecules of insulin resistance in humans with type II diabetes.

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Who

This project will be conducted in the laboratory directed by Prof. Charna Dibner at the Department of Surgery/Diabetes Center of the University of Geneva. The team is made of Prof. Charna Dibner who will be responsible for the project management and its successful advances, and the Dibner lab members:

Drs. Cecilia Jimenes-Sanchez, scientific collaborator,

Georgia Katsioudi and Andrew Biancolin, postdoctoral scientists,

and Mr. Dylan Gendre, laboratory assistant.

 

For more information, please check the Dibner laboratory site:

https://www.unige.ch/medecine/diabetescentre/membres/charna-dibner
https://www.unige.ch/medecine/chiru/en/research-groups/charna-dibner

 (Principal Investigation: Prof. Charna Dibner, Faculty of Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland)