Fulya Turker

@mbg.bilkent.edu.tr

Assistant Professor / Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics / Faculty of Science
Bilkent University

Fulya Turker


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https://researchid.co/fulyaturker
Dr. Türker graduated as valedictorian with a B.Sc. in Molecular Biology, Genetics, and Bioengineering, and a minor in Chemistry, from Sabanci University in Turkey in 2017. During her undergraduate studies, she spent a semester as an exchange student at Boston University and interning at Harvard Medical School. She then pursued her Ph.D. in the Department of Biological Chemistry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, US under the mentorship of Dr. Seth S. Margolis. Her dissertation focuses on identifying neuronal membrane proteasome-derived peptides with signaling capabilities in the mammalian nervous system. After earning her Ph.D., Dr. Türker joined Dr. Sandra Encalada's research group at The Scripps Research Institute, US as a postdoctoral research fellow. During her postdoctoral training, she was awarded the George E. Hewitt Foundation Fellowship. She is currently an Assistant Professor at the Molecular Biology and Genetics Department at Bilkent University, Turkey.

EDUCATION

2017 - 2023 Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, MD, USA
Ph.D., Department of Biological Chemistry

2013 - 2017 Sabanci University, Istanbul, TURKEY
B.Sc., Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering
Minor Program: Chemistry

2016 Spring Boston University, MA, USA
Educational Abroad Program (Exchange student)

RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS

Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience, Cell Biology, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology
8

Scopus Publications

Scopus Publications

  • Regulation of translation elongation and integrated stress response in heat-shocked neurons
    Caitlin M. Seluzicki, Milad Razavi-Mohseni, Fulya Türker, Priyal Patel, Boyang Hua, et al.
    Cell Reports, 2025
  • Protocol to study neuronal membrane proteasome function in mouse peripheral sensory neurons
    Emily R. Krueger, Taylor R. Church, Anna Brennan, Fulya Türker, Eric Villalón Landeros
    STAR Protocols, 2025
  • The nociceptive activity of peripheral sensory neurons is modulated by the neuronal membrane proteasome
    Eric Villalón Landeros, Samuel C. Kho, Taylor R. Church, Anna Brennan, Fulya Türker, et al.
    Cell Reports, 2024
  • Neuronal membrane proteasome-derived peptides modulate NMDAR-dependent neuronal signaling to promote changes in gene expression
    Fulya Türker, Anna Brennan, Seth S. Margolis
    Molecular Biology of the Cell, 2024
    The neuronal membrane proteasome (NMP) degrades intracellular proteins into peptides that are released directly into the extracellular space, whereby they stimulate neurons to promote signaling mechanisms that remain unknown. Here, we demonstrate that neuronal stimulation promotes NMP activity and, subsequently, enhanced production of NMP peptides. We show that these neuronal activity-dependent NMP peptides can rapidly promote N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR)-dependent calcium influx in neurons. This leads to sustained phosphorylation of the well-defined stimulus-induced transcription factor, cyclic AMP response element (CRE)-binding protein (CREB). Downstream of these events, we identified changes to neuronal target genes which included increased expression of immediate early genes (e.g., Fos, Npas4, Egr4) and other genes known to have critical neuroregulatory roles. Further observations led to the discovery that NMP peptide-induced changes in gene expression is dependent on NMDARs and independent of AMPA receptors or voltage-gated sodium channels. These data demonstrate that NMP peptides are endogenous and selective activators of NMDA receptors and act as sufficient and novel stimuli within the context of neuronal activity-dependent signaling. This novel pathway is parallel to classic neuronal activity-dependent programs and points to NMP and its resulting peptides as potential modulators of neuronal function.
  • Orthogonal approaches required to measure proteasome composition and activity in mammalian brain tissue
    Fulya Türker, Rahul A. Bharadwaj, Joel E. Kleinman, Daniel R. Weinberger, Thomas M. Hyde, et al.
    Journal of Biological Chemistry, 2023
  • Proteasome cap particle regulates synapses
    Fulya Türker, Seth S. Margolis
    Science, 2023
    Deubiquitylation by free 19S proteasome cap particle modulates synaptic transmission
  • The proteasome and its role in the nervous system
    Fulya Türker, Emily K. Cook, Seth S. Margolis
    Cell Chemical Biology, 2021
  • Targeted DNA methylation in human cells using engineered dCas9-methyltransferases
    Tina Xiong, Glenna E. Meister, Rachael E. Workman, Nathaniel C. Kato, Michael J. Spellberg, et al.
    Scientific Reports, 2017
    Mammalian genomes exhibit complex patterns of gene expression regulated, in part, by DNA methylation. The advent of engineered DNA methyltransferases (MTases) to target DNA methylation to specific sites in the genome will accelerate many areas of biological research. However, targeted MTases require clear design rules to direct site-specific DNA methylation and minimize the unintended effects of off-target DNA methylation. Here we report a targeted MTase composed of an artificially split CpG MTase (sMTase) with one fragment fused to a catalytically-inactive Cas9 (dCas9) that directs the functional assembly of sMTase fragments at the targeted CpG site. We precisely map RNA-programmed DNA methylation to targeted CpG sites as a function of distance and orientation from the protospacer adjacent motif (PAM). Expression of the dCas9-sMTase in mammalian cells led to predictable and efficient (up to ~70%) DNA methylation at targeted sites. Multiplexing sgRNAs enabled targeting methylation to multiple sites in a single promoter and to multiple sites in multiple promoters. This programmable de novo MTase tool might be used for studying mechanisms of initiation, spreading and inheritance of DNA methylation, and for therapeutic gene silencing.