Ro Lab

• Examining the pathological mechanisms of miRNAs involved in diabetes, obesity, fatty liver disease, gastrointestinal motility disorders and COVID-19.
• Gaining insights into the mechanisms of therapeutic miRNAs to reverse diseases.
• Developing miRNAs into therapeutic drugs for treating interconnected conditions.

Seungil Ro, Ph.D., professor of Physiology and Cell Biology, specializes in understanding the roles of miRNAs that control diabetes, obesity, fatty liver disease, gut neuromuscular disorders and COVID-19. Using anti-diabetic miRNAs, anti-coronavirus miRNAs and mouse models with diabetes and/or COVID-19, the lab is currently performing preclinical studies to develop therapeutic approaches to treat these diseases. In 2021, the Ro Lab launched a biotech startup company, RosVivo Therapeutics Inc, to develop therapeutic miRNAs that can prevent and treat these diseases.

• Seungil Ro, Ph.D.: Principal Investigator
• Se Eun Ha, Ph.D.: Research Assistant Professor
• Rajan Singh, Ph.D.: Research Assistant Professor

• Identified miR-10a and miR-10b as anti-diabetic miRNAs.
• Discovered that miR-10a/b are significantly reduced in individuals with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, as well as those with gastrointestinal motility disorders.
• Found that global and cell-specific knockout of these miRNAs leads to diseases such as hyperglycemia, obesity and various gastrointestinal motility issues including gastroparesis, leaky gut, constipation and diarrhea.
• Determined that injecting miR-10a/b mimics into mice with these conditions markedly improves their health, while injecting miR-10a/b inhibitors into healthy mice severely impairs their function.

• Confocal imaging
• 10X genomic
• Live cell imaging
• In vivo metabolic phenotyping
• In vivo gastrointestinal functional tests
• Surgeries
• Gene therapies
• Organoid cell culture
• Gene cloning

1. Preclinical studies on diabetic animal models.
   
   • Award: AWD-01-00003158
   • Funding organization: RosVivo Therapeutics