Comparative Transcriptomics of Ex Vivo , Patient-Derived Endothelial Cells Reveals Novel Pathways Associated With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.

•Endothelial cells can be harvested directly from humans, rapidly sorted and subjected to RNA-sequencing to study global gene expression.•In endothelial cells isolated from patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus, pathways involved in TGF-β and Cyclin-D1 signaling were positively enriched while androgen signaling and oxidative phosphorylation were negatively enriched compared to healthy individuals.•Patient-derived endothelial cells can be used to discover and validate disease-associated pathways.