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Education

Ph.D.  University of Heidelberg, Germany, 2008
M.S.  University of Heidelberg, Germany, 2005

Postdoctoral Research
MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 2012-2013
German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Heidelberg, Germany, 2008-2011

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Research Interests

My laboratory focuses on elucidating the molecular mechanisms of drug resistance and metastasis in breast cancer using systems biology approaches. We have generated a unique resource of several chemotherapy and targeted therapy resistant breast cancer cell lines and/or animal models with genome-wide transcriptomic characterization that was validated in drug-resistant breast cancer patient datasets.

Combining our expertise in high-throughput functional transcriptomics/proteomics, cancer cell biology and translational research, we work on the mechanistic understanding of drug resistance development and metastasis aimed at potential translational impact.

Our current research interests include i) understanding the role of extracellular matrix re-organization in chemotherapy resistance in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), ii) overcoming resistance to anti-microtubule agents by exploiting mitotic cell death and immune activation in breast cancer, iii) elucidating the role of specific Phosphodiesterases (PDEs) in endocrine resistance and metastasis, and iv) constructing and targeting mRNA-noncoding RNA interactome regulating organ-specific metastasis of TNBCs.

Research Topics:

• Breast cancer therapy
• Precision medicine and systems biology
• Drug resistance and metastasis
• Tumor microenvironment
• Signaling pathways

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Publications

1-Saatci O, Borgoni S, Akbulut O, Durmus S, Raza U, Eyupoglu E, Alkan C, Akyol A, Kutuk O, Wiemann S, Sahin O* (2018). Targeting PLK1 overcomes T-DM1 resistance via CDK1-dependent phosphorylation and inactivation of Bcl-2/xL in HER2-positive breast cancer. Oncogene.  doi:10.1038/s41388-017-0108-9

2- Mishra RR, Belder N, Ansari SA, Kayhan M, Bal H, Raza U, Ersan PG, Tokat UM, Eyupoglu E, Saatci O, Jandaghi P, Wiemann S, Uner A, Cekic C, Riazalhosseini Y, Sahin O*. (2018). Re-activation of cAMP pathway by PDE4D inhibition represents a novel druggable axis for overcoming tamoxifen resistance in ER-positive breast cancer. Clinical Cancer Research. doi:10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-17-2776

3- Xu J, Acharya S, Sahin O, Wang Q, Saito Y, Yao J, Wang H, Li P, Zhang L, Lowery F, Kuo W, Xiao Y, Ensor J, Sahin A, Zhang X, Hung M, Zhang JD, Yu D (2015). 14-3-3ζ turns TGF-β’s function from tumor suppressor to metastasis promoter in breast cancer by contextual changes of Smad partners from p53 to Gli2. Cancer Cell.  doi: 10.1038/s41388-017-0108-9

4- Sahin O, Wang Q, Brady S, Ellis K, Wang H, Li P, Chang C, Zhang Q, Priya P, Landis MD, Muller WJ, Esteva FJ, Chang J, Yu D (2014). Biomarker-guided sequential targeted therapies to overcome therapy resistance in rapidly evolving highly aggressive mammary tumors. Cell Research. 24(5):542-59. doi: 10.1038/cr.2014.37.

5- Uhlmann S, Mannsperger H, Zhang JD, Horvath EA, Schmidt S, Kublbeck M, Henjes F, Ward A, Tschulena U, Zweig K, Korf U, Wiemann S, Sahin O* (2012). Global microRNA level regulation of EGFR-driven cell cycle protein network in breast cancer. Mol Syst Biol. 8:570. (Featured article). doi: 10.1038/msb.2011.100.

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