Final Activity Report Summary - IMMSIGTRANS (Screening for plant factors that modify the function of the mammalian immune system)
The objectives of this project were the professional reintegration of the principle researcher into the scientific establishment in Turkey. This has been accomplished with great results. The fellow has signed an open ended contract with Sabanci University. The deliverables of this project were predicted to be 1) a list of plant genes that may be functional in modulating mammalian signal transduction pathways, and 2) a screening system to identify such plant factors from cDNA libraries. These deliverables have been met. This screening system is available for other researchers to use in their own research.
The fellow's laboratory at Sabanci University trained and graduated 4 M.Sc. students, who are all enrolled in Ph.D. programs in the United States (2 students), in Germany (1student) and in Turkey (1student).
At the end of the grant, the fellow increased the size of his research team in the Biological Sciences and Bioengineering Program at Sabanci University, such that he currently conducts research with two post-doctoral fellows, 1 Ph.D. student, and 3 M.Sc. students.
The fellow of this grant was awarded a Young Scientist Award by the Turkish Academy of Sciences in 2006.
The fellow initiated 4 new research projects:
2007-1012, National Institutes of Health, Fogarty International Center, Global Health Research Initiative Program For New Foreign Investigators (GRIP) entitled 'The role of CD3 in T lymphocyte function' Budget: USD 250.000.
2007-2010, Co-investigator on a TUBITAK 1001 Research Grant for a project entitled 'Discovery of new proteins and intracellular signalling pathways controlling autophagy and autophagic cell death' Budget 300.000 YTL (approxUSD200.000).
2006-2010, Co-investigator on a E.U. 6th FW Program, Marie Curie Research Training Network Grant entitled 'Chromatin Structure and Plasticity.' Total Budget: 3.7M. Sabanci University Budget: 133.000.
2005-2008, TUBITAK Career Grant for a project entitled 'The role of CD3 in TCR signalling.' Budget: 150.000 YTL (approx. USD100.000).
The fellow has presented the research results of his laboratory in an oral presentation entitled Regulation of IL7Ralpha gene transcription in the Interleukin-7 in Health and Disease Mini-Symposium in the series 'Frontiers in Medicine' at the Nobel Forum, Karolinska Institute September 17-18 2007.
The fellow has published 4 collaborative research papers in peer reviewed journals:
Park JH, Adoro S, Lucas PJ, Sarafova SD, Alag AS, Doan LL, Erman B, Liu X, Ellmeier W, Bosselut R, Feigenbaum L, Singer A.(2007). Coreceptor tuning: cytokine signals transcriptionally tailor CD8 coreceptor expression to the self-specificity of the TCR. Nature Immunology. Oct; 8(10):1049-1059.
Erman, B., Alag, A.S. Dahle, O., van Laethem F., Sarafova, S.D. Guinter, T.I. Sharrow, S.O. Grinberg, A., Love, P.E. and Singer, A. (2006). Coreceptor Signal Strength Regulates Positive Selection but does not Determine CD4/CD8 Lineage Choice in a Physiologic In Vivo Model. Journal of Immunology. 177, 6613 - 6625.
Yu, Q., Park, H., Doan, L., Erman, B., Feigenbaum, L., and Singer, A., (2006) Signaling by cytokine receptors is suppressed in double positive thymocytes and restored by positive selection. The Journal of Experimental Medicine. 203 (1),165-75.
Sarafova, S., Erman B., Yu, Q., Van Laethem, F., Guinter, T., Sharrow, S., Feigenbaum, L., Wildt, K.F. Bosselut, R., Ellmeier, W. and Singer, A. (2005). Transcriptional Modulation of Coreceptor Expression during Positive Selection Dictates Lineage Fate Independently of TCR Specificity and Coreceptor Protein Identity. Immunity. 23, 75-87.
The fellow's laboratory at Sabanci University trained and graduated 4 M.Sc. students, who are all enrolled in Ph.D. programs in the United States (2 students), in Germany (1student) and in Turkey (1student).
At the end of the grant, the fellow increased the size of his research team in the Biological Sciences and Bioengineering Program at Sabanci University, such that he currently conducts research with two post-doctoral fellows, 1 Ph.D. student, and 3 M.Sc. students.
The fellow of this grant was awarded a Young Scientist Award by the Turkish Academy of Sciences in 2006.
The fellow initiated 4 new research projects:
2007-1012, National Institutes of Health, Fogarty International Center, Global Health Research Initiative Program For New Foreign Investigators (GRIP) entitled 'The role of CD3 in T lymphocyte function' Budget: USD 250.000.
2007-2010, Co-investigator on a TUBITAK 1001 Research Grant for a project entitled 'Discovery of new proteins and intracellular signalling pathways controlling autophagy and autophagic cell death' Budget 300.000 YTL (approxUSD200.000).
2006-2010, Co-investigator on a E.U. 6th FW Program, Marie Curie Research Training Network Grant entitled 'Chromatin Structure and Plasticity.' Total Budget: 3.7M. Sabanci University Budget: 133.000.
2005-2008, TUBITAK Career Grant for a project entitled 'The role of CD3 in TCR signalling.' Budget: 150.000 YTL (approx. USD100.000).
The fellow has presented the research results of his laboratory in an oral presentation entitled Regulation of IL7Ralpha gene transcription in the Interleukin-7 in Health and Disease Mini-Symposium in the series 'Frontiers in Medicine' at the Nobel Forum, Karolinska Institute September 17-18 2007.
The fellow has published 4 collaborative research papers in peer reviewed journals:
Park JH, Adoro S, Lucas PJ, Sarafova SD, Alag AS, Doan LL, Erman B, Liu X, Ellmeier W, Bosselut R, Feigenbaum L, Singer A.(2007). Coreceptor tuning: cytokine signals transcriptionally tailor CD8 coreceptor expression to the self-specificity of the TCR. Nature Immunology. Oct; 8(10):1049-1059.
Erman, B., Alag, A.S. Dahle, O., van Laethem F., Sarafova, S.D. Guinter, T.I. Sharrow, S.O. Grinberg, A., Love, P.E. and Singer, A. (2006). Coreceptor Signal Strength Regulates Positive Selection but does not Determine CD4/CD8 Lineage Choice in a Physiologic In Vivo Model. Journal of Immunology. 177, 6613 - 6625.
Yu, Q., Park, H., Doan, L., Erman, B., Feigenbaum, L., and Singer, A., (2006) Signaling by cytokine receptors is suppressed in double positive thymocytes and restored by positive selection. The Journal of Experimental Medicine. 203 (1),165-75.
Sarafova, S., Erman B., Yu, Q., Van Laethem, F., Guinter, T., Sharrow, S., Feigenbaum, L., Wildt, K.F. Bosselut, R., Ellmeier, W. and Singer, A. (2005). Transcriptional Modulation of Coreceptor Expression during Positive Selection Dictates Lineage Fate Independently of TCR Specificity and Coreceptor Protein Identity. Immunity. 23, 75-87.