About
Head: PD Dr. Canan Arkan
Diet-induced obesity is a major risk factor for the development of cancer. Although alterations in inflammatory and bioenergetic pathways are critical in linking excessive weight gain to cancer, there is now sufficient evidence to also suggest disease progression may indeed have more to do with the diet itself than increased obesity per se. The diet is shaped by multiple diverse factors such as culture, nutritional knowledge, price, availability, taste and convenience. With our current knowledge on the importance of the reciprocal interaction between host and environmental factors in selecting a microbiota that favours carcinogenesis, the food consumption is critical. Given the distinct shifts in agriculture and changes in crops, food may have a pivotal role in aggravating disease. Our laboratory focuses on how changing diet is associated with cancer initiation and progression at a molecular and cellular level using mouse models with oncogene activation. We aim at dwelling how inflammatory cells crosstalk to host during disease progression, what sort of metabolic derangements are taking place in both host and tumor energy metabolism, whether altered post-translational modifications play a causative role or are just consequent to disease development and if/how microbiota is involved in these processes. Once defined in depth, the next step would be to set the stage for direct interference within any of these processes and to test the possibility for developing therapeutic interventions in mice. Our ultimate goal will be direct translation of our studies into the clinic.
Members
Group Members
PD Dr. Canan Arkan
Canan has studied biology and obtained her M.Sc. degree in Molecular Biology and Genetics at Bogazici University, in Turkey. She attended University of Torino to perform her PhD studies where she worked on free radical biology. After obtaining her doctorate degree, she received a postdoctoral fellowship to go to the University of California at San Diego. At UCSD, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Michael Karin. During her postdoctoral research she became interested in diet-induced obesity and the pathogenesis of type 2 diabetes. She was awarded a fellowship by the American Diabetes Association in 2003. Her study was one of the first to show a link between obesity-induced inflammation and diabetes. In 2005, she became an independent group leader and received her Habilitation in Experimental Medicine at the Technical University of Munich in 2010. Recently in 2016, she joined the Institute of Biochemistry II at the Medical Faculty of the Goethe University Frankfurt. Her lab focuses on the link between diet and cancer with special emphasis on inflammation, post-translational modifications, derangements in energy metabolism and microbiota.
Begüm Aküzüm
Begüm studied Molecular Biology and Genetics in Istanbul Technical University, Turkey. She earned her master’s degree from Department of Biomedical Sciences and Technology, Konkuk University (South Korea) with a focus on cytokine immunology. Following her masters, she worked as graduate research assistant in the Laboratory of Cell Death and Diabetes, Yonsei University where she studied on a small molecule that triggers UPR/ISR-mediated translational attenuation for treatment of obesity, additionally on the alterations in stress granule dynamics driven by aging, autophagy deficiency and obesity. Since June 2017 Begüm has been a part of Arkan Lab and working as a Phd student in the Cancer Metabolism Group at the Institute of Biochemistry II at the Goethe University Frankfurt.
Natalia Delis
Natalia was born in Giessen and graduated from school with general Qualification for University entrance (Abitur) in 2000. She then did an apprenticeship as biological technical assistant (BTA) at the Adolf-Reichwein-School in Marburg and graduated in June 2002. Since then she is working at the Georg-Speyer-Haus. Natalia has broad expertise in lab organisation and management, in protein expression and purification as well as in DNA, RNA purification, cloning, PCR as well as in genotyping of mice. In January 2018, Natalia joined the Cancer Metabolism group at the Institute of Biochemistry II.
Gözde Vanlioglu
Gözde studied Physics at Istanbul University, Turkey. She received her Master of Science degree at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Istanbul University. During her graduate studies, she worked as an engineer at the Biomedical and Clinical Engineering Department of Istanbul University Hospitals. She served as the chief engineer responsible for the medical device calibration laboratory. In March 2018, she joined the Cancer Metabolism Group to focus on Magnetic Resonance Imaging for cancer research.
