Establishment of a Joint Biotechnology Laboratory for Biopharmaceutical Recombinant Drug Production (Cooperation Grant – KOSGEB)

  This project enabled the establishment of Turkey’s first state-supported in synthetic biology laboratory, Sentebiolab.5 different partner companies operating in this area have signed a policy combining forces for the installation of this joint laboratory.

Development of Prognostic Gene Biomarker Kit for Multiple Myeloma Patients (TUBITAK-TEYDEB)

  Multiple Myeloma is the second most common hematological cancer is originated by malignant plasma cells. Biomarker kits are able to predict patients’ response to treatment before starting chemotherapeutic treatment, and monitoring of treatment allows early treatment change in case of resistance development. The biomarker kit developed within the scope of this project has identified resistance profiles in multiple myeloma cell lines to FDA approved chemotherapeutic drugs. Afterwards, the gene expression profiles of the cells before and after they became resistant were determined by microchip technology. For each cell, gene expression profiles of resistant / normal cells were compared and the genes responsible for resistance were determined. Among these genes, 7 of them were successfully verified in cell lines and clinical samples and prototype gene biomarker kit was developed with these identified genes.

Development of a Quantum Dot (Q-Dot) Imaging Device (TUBITAK-TEYDEB)

  With this project, we aimed to develop an imaging device for Western blotting technique, which is a very common and routine experimental method in the molecular biology laboratories. This device is intended to enable the visualization of signals in Western blot experiments using Q-Dot nanoparticles for signal generation. In addition, the addition of Q-Dots and conjugated secondary antibodies with the device is aimed at increasing the added value of the device and transforming the product into a complete Western blot imaging kit. Within the scope of this project, a software that eliminates the errors obtained by the device and two softwares used for processing and evaluating the results of protein array scanning have also been developed. With the completion of all these studies, the system has been transformed into a system suitable for Western blot and protein array scans, capable of imaging and processing these images and generating numerical values.

Development of EGFR / Cen7 CASFISH Probe For Cancer Diagnosis (R & D Innovation-KOSGEB)

  Within the scope of this project, we aimed to develop EGFR / Cen7 FISH probes which are used in the diagnosis of breast, colorectal and lung cancers. According to the World Health Organization report, lung cancer is the second most common type of cancer in men and women. It causes the death of approximately 1.3 million people in the world. Similarly, colorectal cancer is among the most common cancer types among both men and women, accounting for 15% of all cancers. The Turkish Ministry of Health reported that there are approximately 500,000 cancer cases in Turkey. Every year, approximately 150,000 people die from cancer. The most important cause of death in cancer cases is metastasis. Therefore, early diagnosis is extremely important to reduce cancer-related deaths. DNA probes are highly effective methods for early detection of cancer. EGFR probes are one of the most common probes used in the diagnosis of lung and colorectal cancer. The aim of this project is to produce probes that can be used in the diagnosis of mutations related to EGFR gene. Solid phase oligonucleotide synthesis method is used in probe production. In this project, oligonucleotide synthesis was performed automatically by our oligonucleotide synthesizer. The oligonucleotide synthesis process is based on tetrazole catalysis with phosphoramidite monomers. The probes that were developed as a result of this project can be efficiently used for FISH experiments.