Case Study: Stanford University advances DCM research with Qlucore Omics Explorer

Using induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) to study molecular mechanisms in Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Stanford University, through Dr. Elena Matsa’s lab, is studying dilated cardiomyopathy using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to better understand disease mechanisms and evaluate whether lab-made cardiomyocytes accurately represent adult human heart cells. The team needed a fast, flexible way to analyze high volumes of RNA sequencing data and compare patient-derived heart tissue with iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes. Qlucore’s Omics Explorer was used to support this work.

With Qlucore, Stanford University’s researchers performed principal component analysis, hierarchical heat maps, and ontology-based comparisons to identify how samples clustered and how gene expression differed between cell types. Qlucore enabled the cell biology team to analyze and statistically assess data quickly without relying entirely on bioinformaticians, while also allowing real-time visualization of p-value cutoffs and custom R scripting. The result was faster turnaround for publications and presentations, with plans to expand Qlucore use to methylome and ChIP-sequencing analyses for deeper insight into heart disease and drug response.

Stanford University

Elena Matsa

Cell Biologist and iPSC Specialist