Abdurahman A. Niazy, DVM, Ph.D.
Director
Molecular and Cell Biology Laboratory
College of Dentistry, King Saud University
Ph.D. in Molecular Biology (2014), University of North Texas
Research Interests
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Biofilm Formation, Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing, Molecular Microbiology, Bacterial Drug Resistance, Clinical Bacteriology, Bacterial Pathogenesis, Clinical and Diagnostic Microbiology, Bone Regeneration, Stem Cells
Brief description of on-going research
My research of interest focuses on the molecular side of cell interaction. Interaction can be created by exposure of cells to various molecules or through site directed mutagenesis that result in knocking out of genes. My interest covers both prokaryotic cells and eukaryotic through either bacterial or stem cell interaction.
Fig. 1: Alignment results for DNA sequencing of the pyrE gene and pyrE mutant gene. Source: Niazy, A. (2014). Investigating the Ability of Pseudomonas aeruginosa pyrE Mutants to grow and produce virulence factors (Doctoral Dissertation). Retrieved from https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc700016/m2/1/high_res_d/dissertation.pdf
Currently, I am focusing my effort to understand the process of bone regeneration. By exposing stem cells to various molecules, we can analyze the effect on the cells through either visual, chemical or gene expression analysis. With little being understood in terms of understanding bone regeneration, we are focusing our effort on understanding how the various molecules within the cell interact with each other during the bone regeneration processes. This will lead to better understanding of the healing process and therefore be able to find innovative means to speed up or enhance the bone regeneration process especially in case of large bone losses.
Once we are able to advance in this task, the next step is to work towards clinical applications of our acquired knowledge and to practically apply what we have observed. Together with creating better scaffolds and molecular interaction of drugs, we are working to improve the lives of people affected by large bone loss condition or situations.
Selected Publications
- Alzahrani, K., Niazy, A., Alghamdi, H., and Alsouwaileh, A. (in press). Antibacterial Activity of Trimetal (CuZnFe) Oxide Nanoparticles. International Journal of Nanomedicine, Article No. 15428.
- Niazy, A., & Hughes, L. E. (2015). Accumulation of Pyrimidine Intermediate Orotate Decreases Virulence Factor Production in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Current microbiology, 71(2), 229-234.
- Niazy, A. (2010). Virulence factor production in pyrE mutants of Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Current Research Projects
- Effect of Novel Nanoparticles on Bacterial Growth
- Effects of Various Compounds on Stem Cell Differentiation to Bone and Fat Cells
