Molecular Biology and Genetics Seminars: Prof. Tuğba Bağcı Önder
Prof. Tuğba Bağcı Önder from Koç University School of Medicine will be the next guest of the seminar series organized by KHAS Molecular Biology and Genetics Department with her speech “Exploiting Epigenetic Vulnerabilities of Cancer Cells to Overcome Therapy Resistance” on Thursday, March 16 at 16:00 on Zoom.
Zoom ID: 828 6695 5721
Abstract: A mechanism of therapy resistance is transcriptional dysregulation of cell death and survival-related genes. Changes in the epigenome are thought to play a critical role in acquired therapy resistance. Epigenetic modifications occur on chromatin and consist mainly of DNA methylation, histone acetylation and methylation, governed by the activity of several chromatin-modifying proteins. To decipher the relationship between therapy response and epigenetics, we undertake loss-of-function approach and interrogate the roles of chromatin modifying proteins with functional screens. These screens are based on genetic or chemical ablation of protein functions. In the first one, we use shRNA or CRISPR/Cas9-based libraries, in the second one we use chemical probes to discover novel molecular mechanisms to overcome therapy resistance. We utilize next generation sequencing to profile and map the differences between drug-sensitive and drug-resistant populations of cancer cells, that we generate in our laboratory. This talk will give an overview of our current approaches and highlight the roles of our recently identified molecular mechanisms.
About the Speaker: Prof. Tuğba Bağcı Önder graduated from the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Bilkent University in 2002. She then earned her Ph.D. degree in Neuroscience at Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts University in 2008. She pursued her postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital on the development of tumor-specific pro-apoptotic therapies in animal models of brain cancer. In 2012, she joined Koç University School of Medicine and established the Brain Cancer Research and Therapy Laboratory. Her research group is currently working on the understanding of epigenetic regulation of cell death, therapy resistance and progression of cancers. Her work is supported by FP7 Programme-Marie Curie Career Integration Grant, TÜBİTAK, TUSEB, Royal Society-UK and Koç University Research Center for Translational Medicine (KUTTAM). Prof. Bağcı Önder is also a recipient of Barbara Talamo Trainee (2008), UNESCO-L’oreal Women in Science (2013), BAGEP (2014), Sedat Simavi Heath Sciences (2021) and International Cell Death Society Rising Women in Science (2022) awards.