Molecular Biology and Genetics / Moleküler Biyoloji ve Genetik
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/11147/9
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Article Citation - WoS: 28Citation - Scopus: 30Senescence-Induced Immune Remodeling Facilitates Metastatic Adrenal Cancer in a Sex-Dimorphic Manner(Springer, 2023) Warde, Kate M.; Smith, Lorenzo J.; Liu, Lihua; Stubben, Chris J.; Lohman, Brian K.; Willett, Parker W.; Ammer, Julia L.; Castaneda Hernandez, Guadalupe; Imodoye, Sikiru O.; Zhang, Chenge; Jones, Kara D.; Converso Baran, Kimber; Ekiz, H. AtakanThe mechanisms underlying the influence of aging on cancer are incompletely understood. Warde et al. establish a new model of age- and sex-dependent adrenal cancer. Their work uncovers a tumor-protective role for myeloid immune cells that is enhanced by androgens. Aging markedly increases cancer risk, yet our mechanistic understanding of how aging influences cancer initiation is limited. Here we demonstrate that the loss of ZNRF3, an inhibitor of Wnt signaling that is frequently mutated in adrenocortical carcinoma, leads to the induction of cellular senescence that remodels the tissue microenvironment and ultimately permits metastatic adrenal cancer in old animals. The effects are sexually dimorphic, with males exhibiting earlier senescence activation and a greater innate immune response, driven in part by androgens, resulting in high myeloid cell accumulation and lower incidence of malignancy. Conversely, females present a dampened immune response and increased susceptibility to metastatic cancer. Senescence-recruited myeloid cells become depleted as tumors progress, which is recapitulated in patients in whom a low myeloid signature is associated with worse outcomes. Our study uncovers a role for myeloid cells in restraining adrenal cancer with substantial prognostic value and provides a model for interrogating pleiotropic effects of cellular senescence in cancer.Article Assessment of Undergraduate Health Students' Perception and Satisfaction on Training and Participation in Community Health Outreach(Springer, 2023) Adegbore, Abidemi Kafayat; Adedokun, Amudatu Ambali; Adegoke, Juliet Ifeoluwa; Lawal, Maruf Ayobami; Oke, MuseAimThe need to improve training of health professionals has increased in recent years due to increasing frequencies of public health events. Consequently, a descriptive cross-sectional survey was carried out to determine the level of satisfaction and knowledge acquired by undergraduate students in the health sciences during a community health outreach program.Subject and methodsStudents were invited to complete an online-administered questionnaire (consisting of both open- and closed-ended questions) to assess their perceptions and experiences on the community health outreach program. Additionally, the survey was carried out to assess the quality of training provided and obtain suggestions for further improvements. Responses were collected and analysed using Microsoft Excel.ResultsMost respondents (>83%) reported satisfaction with the community diagnosis and community intervention briefing and training sessions. All respondents reported familiarity with standard community health outreach instruments and were capable of identifying environmental health risk factors that may contribute to the spread of communicable diseases. Interestingly, respondents reported greater appreciation of health challenges faced by rural communities. However, respondents expressed dissatisfaction with the duration of the outreach program (24%) and funding (15%).ConclusionAlthough respondents reported overall satisfaction with the organization and execution of the health outreach program, certain aspects of the program were deemed unsatisfactory. Despite the shortcomings, we believe that our student-centred learning strategy is readily adaptable for training future healthcare professionals and improving health literacy of rural communities, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.Article Citation - WoS: 7Citation - Scopus: 8High-Fat Diet Feeding Triggers a Regenerative Response in the Adult Zebrafish Brain(Springer, 2023) Azbazdar, Yağmur; Poyraz, Yusuf Kaan; Özalp, Özgün; Nazlı, Dilek; İpekgil, Doğaç; Cucun, GÖkhan; Özhan, GüneşNon-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) includes a range of liver conditions ranging from excess fat accumulation to liver failure. NAFLD is strongly associated with high-fat diet (HFD) consumption that constitutes a metabolic risk factor. While HFD has been elucidated concerning its several systemic effects, there is little information about its influence on the brain at the molecular level. Here, by using a high-fat diet (HFD)-feeding of adult zebrafish, we first reveal that excess fat uptake results in weight gain and fatty liver. Prolonged exposure to HFD induces a significant increase in the expression of pro-inflammation, apoptosis, and proliferation markers in the liver and brain tissues. Immunofluorescence analyses of the brain tissues disclose stimulation of apoptosis and widespread activation of glial cell response. Moreover, glial activation is accompanied by an initial decrease in the number of neurons and their subsequent replacement in the olfactory bulb and the telencephalon. Long-term consumption of HFD causes activation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in the brain tissues. Finally, fish fed an HFD induces anxiety, and aggressiveness and increases locomotor activity. Thus, HFD feeding leads to a non-traumatic brain injury and stimulates a regenerative response. The activation mechanisms of a regeneration response in the brain can be exploited to fight obesity and recover from non-traumatic injuries.Article Citation - WoS: 5Citation - Scopus: 5Low Magnitude High Frequency Vibrations Expedite the Osteogenesis of Bone Marrow Stem Cells on Paper Based 3d Scaffolds(Springer, 2020) Karadaş, Özge; Meşe, Gülistan; Özçivici, EnginAnabolic effects of low magnitude high frequency (LMHF) vibrations on bone tissue were consistently shown in the literature in vivo, however in vitro efforts to elucidate underlying mechanisms are generally limited to 2D cell culture studies. Three dimensional cell culture platforms better mimic the natural microenvironment and biological processes usually differ in 3D compared to 2D culture. In this study, we used laboratory grade filter paper as a scaffold material for studying the effects of LHMF vibrations on osteogenesis of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in a 3D system. LMHF vibrations were applied 15 min/day at 0.1 g acceleration and 90 Hz frequency for 21 days to residing cells under quiescent and osteogenic conditions. mRNA expression analysis was performed for alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osteocalcin (OCN) genes, Alizarin red S staining was performed for mineral nodule formation and infrared spectroscopy was performed for determination of extracellular matrix composition. The highest osteocalcin expression, mineral nodule formation and the phosphate bands arising from the inorganic phase was observed for the cells incubated in osteogenic induction medium with vibration. Our results showed that filter paper can be used as a model scaffold system for studying the effects of mechanical loads on cells, and LMHF vibrations induced the osteogenic differentiation of stem cells.Article Citation - WoS: 11Citation - Scopus: 12Phytohormone Release by Three Isolated Lichen Mycobionts and the Effects of Indole-3 Acid on Their Compatible Photobionts(Springer, 2020) Candotto Carniel, Fabio; Muggia, Lucia; Ametrano, Claudio Gennaro; Kranner, Ilse; Çimen, Tuğçe; Pichler, Gregor; Stoggl, Wolfgang; Trippel, DanielaEvidence is emerging that phytohormones represent key inter-kingdom signalling compounds supporting chemical communication between plants, fungi and bacteria. The roles of phytohormones for the lichen symbiosis are poorly understood, particularly in the process of lichenization, i.e. the key events which lead free-living microalgae and fungi to recognize each other, make physical contact and start developing a lichen thallus. Here, we studied cellular and extracellularly released phytohormones in three lichen mycobionts, Cladonia grayi, Xanthoria parietina and Tephromela atra, grown on solid medium, and the effects of indole-3-acetic acid (IAA) on their respective photobionts, Asterochloris glomerata, Trebouxia decolorans, Trebouxia sp. Using ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS) we found that mycobionts produced IAA, salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA). IAA represented the most abundant phytohormone produced and released by all mycobionts, whereas SA was released by X. parietina and T. atra, and JA was released by C. grayi only. With a half-life of 5.2 days, IAA degraded exponentially in solid BBM in dim light. When IAA was exogenously offered to the mycobionts' compatible photobionts at "physiological" concentrations (as released by their respective mycobionts and accumulated in the medium over seven days), the photobionts' water contents increased up to 4.4%. Treatment with IAA had no effects on the maximum quantum yield of photosystem II, dry mass, and the contents of photosynthetic pigments and alpha-tocopherol of the photobionts. The data presented may be useful for designing studies aimed at elucidating the roles of phytohormones in lichens.Book Part Citation - Scopus: 15Stem Cell Culture Under Simulated Microgravity(Springer, 2020) Anıl İnevi, Müge; Sarıgil, Öykü; Kızılkaya, Melike; Meşe, Gülistan; Tekin, Hüseyin Cumhur; Özçivici, EnginChallenging environment of space causes several pivotal alterations in living systems, especially due to microgravity. The possibility of simulating microgravity by ground-based systems provides research opportunities that may lead to the understanding of in vitro biological effects of microgravity by eliminating the challenges inherent to spaceflight experiments. Stem cells are one of the most prominent cell types, due to their self-renewal and differentiation capabilities. Research on stem cells under simulated microgravity has generated many important findings, enlightening the impact of microgravity on molecular and cellular processes of stem cells with varying potencies. Simulation techniques including clinostat, random positioning machine, rotating wall vessel and magnetic levitation-based systems have improved our knowledge on the effects of microgravity on morphology, migration, proliferation and differentiation of stem cells. Clarification of the mechanisms underlying such changes offers exciting potential for various applications such as identification of putative therapeutic targets to modulate stem cell function and stem cell based regenerative medicine. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2020.Conference Object Preparing Sequence Databases for Application in Proteogenomics(Springer, 2016) Has, Canan; Mungan, Mehmet Direnç; Çiftçi, Cansu; Allmer, JensProteomics involves the identification of proteins from complex mixtures which is performed using mass spectrometry (MS) followed by computational data analysis. MS/MS spectra can either be sequenced de novo if no sequence is available for the proteins in the mixture, or by using database search algorithms such as OMSSA, X!Tandem, and MSGF+.Conference Object Database Normalization Is Crucial for Reliable Protein Identification in Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomics(Springer, 2016) Has, Canan; Mungan, Mehmet Direnç; Çiftçi, Cansu; Allmer, JensResearch in proteomics is driven by mass spectrometry, especially the identification of proteins from complex samples. Computational analysis of the resulting data determines the peptide sequences of the recorded spectra and integrates identifications into proteins. For this, database search algorithms can be employed, but they need a list of amino acid sequences that are expected to exist in the sample. Many algorithms have been proposed and consensus scoring has been performed. While the comparison/integration among results from different algorithms is important, there has been no attempt to integrate the results from searching multiple databases. This is, however, important since it poses technical problems when all databases, needed for a study, are simply concatenated. Unfortunately, it has been shown that databases of different size influence scoring and prohibit the direct comparison of results.Book Part Citation - WoS: 10Synteny Among Solanaceae Genomes(Springer, 2016) Frary, Amy; Doğanlar, Sami; Frary, AnneThe Solanaceae was among the first plant families to be analyzed via comparative mapping and thus was a pioneer in the realm of synteny studies. Analyses of chromosome content and organization have employed a range of techniques, including linkage mapping of genes and molecular markers, physical mapping via fluorescence in situ hybridization, and sequencing of relatively small genomic segments as well as the complete sequencing of the tomato genome. Early comparisons in the family involved tomato and its close relative potato and have extended outward to include eggplant, pepper, tobacco, and petunia. Not surprisingly, the degree of synteny among these species is a function of the time since their divergence, with inversion, translocation, and transposition being the chief mechanisms of chromosome rearrangement. The results of this work provide important insight into the modes and tempo of plant genome evolution while serving a practical purpose as well: knowledge of genome synteny and colinearity makes it easier to leverage resources from one species to another in this agronomically important family.Book Part Citation - WoS: 59Citation - Scopus: 68Stem Cell Therapy for Multiple Sclerosis(Springer, 2019) Genç, Bilgesu; Bozan, Hemdem Rodi; Genç, Şermin; Genç, KürşadMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory, autoimmune, and neurodegenerative disease of the central nervous system (CNS). It is characterized by demyelination and neuronal loss that is induced by attack of autoreactive T cells to the myelin sheath and endogenous remyelination failure, eventually leading to functional neurological disability. Although recent evidence suggests that MS relapses are induced by environmental and exogenous triggers such as viral infections in a genetic background, its very complex pathogenesis is not completely understood. Therefore, the efficiency of current immunosuppression-based therapies of MS is too low, and emerging disease-modifying immunomodulatory agents such as fingolimod and dimethyl fumarate cannot stop progressive neurodegenerative process. Thus, the cell replacement therapy approach that aims to overcome neuronal cell loss and remyelination failure and to increase endogenous myelin repair capacity is considered as an alternative treatment option. A wide variety of preclinical studies, using experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis model of MS, have recently shown that grafted cells with different origins including mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), neural precursor and stem cells, and induced-pluripotent stem cells have the ability to repair CNS lesions and to recover functional neurological deficits. The results of ongoing autologous hematopoietic stem cell therapy studies, with the advantage of peripheral administration to the patients, have suggested that cell replacement therapy is also a feasible option for immunomodulatory treatment of MS. In this chapter, we overview cell sources and applications of the stem cell therapy for treatment of MS. We also discuss challenges including those associated with administration route, immune responses to grafted cells, integration of these cells to existing neural circuits, and risk of tumor growth. Finally, future prospects of stem cell therapy for MS are addressed.