Browsing by Author "Yaylak, Bilge"

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Biochemical and Functional Characterization of Circular Rnas Differentially Expressed in Cisplatin-Treated Hela Cells
(01. Izmir Institute of Technology, 2023-05) Yaylak, Bilge; Akgül, Bünyamin
Circular RNAs (CircRNAs) are a novel class of single-stranded, covalently-closed RNA molecules. Functional investigations of the circRNAs provide insight into the mechanisms underlying gene regulation and cellular responses, which could ultimately lead to the development of new therapies for a wide range of diseases. In this thesis, four cisplatin (cis-diamminedichloroplatinum II, CP)-responsive circRNAs, circGALNT2, circBNC2, circBIRC6, and circCLASP1, were validated. The reverse genetics approaches, such as knockdown and overexpression strategies, showed that circCLASP1 is required for the proliferation of HeLa cells. The knockdown of circCLASP1 disrupts proliferation in HeLa, and its overexpression restores impaired proliferation. Further analyses revealed that circCLASP1 knockdown sensitizes HeLa cells against 20 μM and 40 μM cisplatin treatments. Interestingly, an IC50 dose of cisplatin causes Annexin V-/7AAD + cell death rather than apoptosis when combined with circCLASP1 knockdown. In light of these findings, five circRNA/miRNA/mRNA regulatory networks were constructed using computational approaches. Additionally, a transcriptomics analysis after circCLASP1 knockdown has supported all of these findings in that muscle cell proliferation genes were significantly altered upon circCLASP1 knockdown in HeLa cells. In conclusion, the findings suggest that the knockdown of circCLASP1 represses proliferation and sensitizes HeLa cells against cisplatin. CircCLASP1-knockdown mediated differential gene expression indicates proliferation, ROS response, iron metabolism, lipid peroxidation, and cell death. Further studies are needed to elucidate the precise mechanism of circCLASP1-mediated cell death and proliferation in muscle cells or liver cells and ROS-related diseases.
Citation - Scopus: 20
Experimental MicroRNA Detection Methods
(Humana Press, 2022) Yaylak, Bilge; Akgül, Bünyamin
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are considerably small yet highly important riboregulators involved in nearly all cellular processes. Due to their critical roles in posttranscriptional regulation of gene expression, they have the potential to be used as biomarkers in addition to their use as drug targets. Although computational approaches speed up the initial genomewide identification of putative miRNAs, experimental approaches are essential for further validation and functional analyses of differentially expressed miRNAs. Therefore, sensitive, specific, and cost-effective microRNA detection methods are imperative for both individual and multiplex analysis of miRNA expression in different tissues and during different developmental stages. There are a number of well-established miRNA detection methods that can be exploited depending on the comprehensiveness of the study (individual miRNA versus multiplex analysis), the availability of the sample and the location and intracellular concentration of miRNAs. This review aims to highlight not only traditional but also novel strategies that are widely used in experimental identification and quantification of microRNAs. © 2022, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.
Indentification of Circular Ribonucleic Acids Differentially Expressed in Apoptotic Hela Cells
(Izmir Institute of Technology, 2018-07) Yaylak, Bilge; Akgül, Bünyamin
Apoptosis is a mechanism of programmed cell death that is essential for survival, homeostatis and development. Various protein coding genes and non-coding RNAs were reported as apoptosis regulators. However, the potential roles of circular RNA in the regulation of apoptosis are still unknown. In this study, we have performed transcriptomics study to reveal differentially expressed, pathway-drug specific and/or global circRNAs in apoptotic HeLa cells. Cisplatin (CP), doxorubicin (DOX), Fas mAb(FAS) and TNF-alpha (TNF-a) were used to trigger apoptosis in HeLa cells. Apoptosis rates of three replicates of treatment and control cells were measured by flow cytometry and differentially expressed circular RNAs were identified by deep RNA sequencing. Circular RNA candidates were firstly sorted based on their significance according to pad j value, further classified based on fold change, pathway-drug specificity and source genes. Then, circular RNA candidates were analysed bioinformatically to obtain their coding potential, potential miRNA binding sites and involvement in possible apoptotic pathways. Furthermore, divergent primers were designed to validate backsplicing junction sequence of circular RNA candidates. RNAse R treatment was used to eliminate linear transcripts and enrich circular RNAs. The expression of candidate circular RNAs was analysed RNAse R treated samples. Backsplicing junctions of positive circular control circ-HIPK3 was validated by TA cloning and sequencing. Differential expression of positive control (circ-HIPK3), candidate-8 and candidate-6 were validated by quantitative PCR.
Citation - WoS: 13
Citation - Scopus: 13
Noncoding Rnas in Apoptosis: Identification and Function
(TÜBİTAK, 2022) Tüncel, Özge; Kara, Merve; Yaylak, Bilge; Erdoğan, İpek; Akgül, Bünyamin
Apoptosis is a vital cellular process that is critical for the maintenance of homeostasis in health and disease. The derailment of apoptotic mechanisms has severe consequences such as abnormal development, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases. Thus, there exist complex regulatory mechanisms in eukaryotes to preserve the balance between cell growth and cell death. Initially, protein coding genes were prioritized in the search for such regulatory macromolecules involved in the regulation of apoptosis. However, recent genome annotations and transcriptomics studies have uncovered a plethora of regulatory noncoding RNAs that have the ability to modulate not only apoptosis but also many other biochemical processes in eukaryotes. In this review article, we will cover a brief summary of apoptosis and detection methods followed by an extensive discussion on microRNAs, circular RNAs, and long noncoding RNAs in apoptosis.
Citation - WoS: 9
Citation - Scopus: 11
Transcriptomics Analysis of Circular Rnas Differentially Expressed in Apoptotic Hela Cells
(Frontiers Media S.A., 2019) Yaylak, Bilge; Erdoğan, İpek; Akgül, Bünyamin
Apoptosis is a form of regulated cell death that plays a critical role in survival and developmental homeostasis. There are numerous reports on regulation of apoptosis by protein-coding genes as well as small non-coding RNAs, such as microRNAs. However, there is no comprehensive investigation of circular RNAs (circRNA) that are differentially expressed under apoptotic conditions. We have performed a transcriptomics study in which we first triggered apoptosis in HeLa cells through treatment with four different agents, namely cisplatin, doxorubicin, TNF-alpha and anti-Fas mAb. Total RNAs isolated from control as well as treated cells were treated with RNAse R to eliminate the linear RNAs. The remaining RNAs were then subjected to deep-sequencing to identify differentially expressed circRNAs. Interestingly, some of the dys-regulated circRNAs were found to originate from protein-coding genes well-documented to regulate apoptosis. A number of candidate circRNAs were validated with qPCR with or without RNAse R treatment as well. We then took advantage of bioinformatics tools to investigate the coding potential of differentially expressed RNAs. Additionally, we examined the candidate circRNAs for the putative miRNA-binding sites and their putative target mRNAs. Our analyses point to a potential for circRNA-mediated sponging of miRNAs known to regulate apoptosis. In conclusion, this is the first transcriptomics study that provides a complete circRNA profile of apoptotic cells that might shed light onto the potential role of circRNAs in apoptosis.