Elif Nur Firat-Karalar

scientist studying centrosomes, cilia and centriolar satellites; associate prof @kocuniversity; alumna @ucberkeley @stanford; mom of 3👦1👧; 2X ERC StG

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

Over the moon to share that I’ve been elected as an @EMBO member! This wouldn't have been possible without my fantastic mentors and collaborators, passionate past and present team members @kocuniversity, funding from @EMBO_YIP, @ERC_Research, @Tubitak and support of my family.

[EMBO @EMBO]

Outstanding scientists elected to EMBO Membership: in EMBO’s 60th anniversary year, 100 new members and 20 associate members join the community

https://t.co/eHCoXY0ynR

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

How do migrating cells coordinate actin, microtubules, and focal adhesions? Our preprint identifies CCDC66 as an actin–microtubule crosslinker that promotes microtubule targeting to FAs and maintains balance between protrusion and contractility.

https://t.co/1iJ51pXEti

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

Huge congratulations to @ghotamis on being elected to the National Academy of Sciences. A remarkable and truly deserved honor!

[Gunes Parlakgul @gparlakgul]

So proud of my mentor Gokhan Hotamisligil @ghotamis for his election to the National Academy of Sciences. So well deserved!!
https://t.co/qpqckEhC6A

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

This work was made possible by a strong collaboration across Koç University, Koç University Hospital, IBDM Marseille and Medipol University. A special congratulations to our first authors Irem and Clothilde for the amazing work they did during their PhDs.

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

Excited to share our collaborative paper showing that the Joubert syndrome-associated protein CSPP1 is a conserved regulator of vertebrate multiciliogenesis and motile cilia function. Here is a link the paper: https://t.co/C2qQXMMfBy 👇

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

Using mouse airway cultures and Xenopus epidermis, we find convergent defects in centriole amplification, basal body organization, cilia assembly, and motility. Our work helps explain why a neurodevelopmental ciliopathy can also present with respiratory phenotypes.

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

Excited to have contributed to this paper showing in vivo proof of concept for a potential new therapeutic strategy in ALS through PML-mediated protein clearance. We are also excited by the link between ciliopathies and ALS through NEK1, with more to uncover mechanistically.

[Umut Sahin @SahinLabSU]

Our new paper demonstrates for the first time the in vivo feasibility of PML-based therapeutic strategies for neurodegeneration. Focusing on ALS, we provide strong proof of concept evidence that inducing PML to clear disease-causing proteins is a promising therapeutic approach

[Wei Qin @WeiQinChemBio]

Excited to share our new preprint on Hi-APEX — a truly H2O2-independent proximity labeling method!

We discovered a new probe, tetrazine-phenol, which enables APEX2 labeling without needing exogenous H2O2. Best part? No changes to the APEX2 enzyme are required.

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

@MickLab Thank you David!

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

Honored to receive the Academic Star award from the Female Legends Türkiye program. Meeting inspiring women from different fields reminded me of the power of female leadership.Each awardee spoke with humility, thanking their teams/families and showing that real success is shared.

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

@MahjoubLab Thank you Moe!

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

@Toliclab Thank you Iva.

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

I am thrilled to be featured in the ‘First Persons’ through the decades article in Journal of Cell Science.. It is honoring for me to appear on the same page as David Stephens, an outstanding scientist, leader, and mentor in the cilia field, who sadly passed away in 2024.

[J Cell Science @J_Cell_Sci]

Our ‘First Person’ series was launched in 2017 to highlight the first authors of our Research Articles. In this ‘First Persons through the decades’ article, Amelia Glazier highlights some notable scientists who have published first-author papers in JCS.
https://t.co/Do18kMRqe7

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

@Alexis_Lomakin Congratulations!

[Koç Üniversitesi @kocuniversity]

From our Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Dr. Elif Nur Fırat Karalar and her team reveal how DYRK kinases regulate the cell’s tiny “antenna” — the primary cilium. Their study has just been published in Communications Biology.

Moleküler Biyoloji ve Genetik Bölümü Öğretim Üyemiz Prof. Dr. Elif Nur Fırat Karalar ve ekibinin yeni çalışması Nature Communications Biology’de yayımlandı!
Araştırma, DYRK kinazlarının, hücrelerin küçük “anteni” olan birincil kirpiğin sağlıklı yapısında kritik rol oynadığını gösteriyor.

@ArslanhanMelis @CommsBio @Tubitak @EMBO_YIP @ERC_Research

[Salah Elias @theeliaslab]

Excited to share our new preprint introducing CenSegNet, a deep learning framework for high-throughput, spatially resolved, single-cell centrosome profiling in heterogeneous tissues. Co-led by brilliant PhD students, Jiaoqi Cheng & Keqiang Fan.

1/3

https://t.co/OVzDIsGFba

[Jonathan Kipnis 🟦 @jonykipnis]

Life in academia would have been so much better without “reviewer#2” or PIs spending their entire time bringing others down instead of elevating their own science, or without editors who take months to decide to editorially reject your papers. But maybe then life would have been too boring? 🤦‍♂️

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

I met Can when I first started at Koç University, back when he was a master’s student. Since then, he has built an impressive career, congratulations on receiving the ERC StG! I am excited to see the outcomes of SigReg project.

[Can Aztekin @CanAztekin]

🥳Thrilled to share that our lab has been awarded an ERC StGrant for our project SigReg: Signal to Regeneration!

How can we unlock limb regeneration in adult mammals?

It’s time to apply what we learned from 🐸 ➡️ 🐭

https://t.co/6qwiLf2e2y

[Waggoner Lab @LabWaggoner]

The causes of early-life eczema have been unclear, but evidence indicates that changes to fetal immune cells and sensory neurons during pregnancy play a key part @Nature 🇫🇷
https://t.co/B6D10EhLJP
https://t.co/jkfxDURSy5
@NatureNV preview by @Abhay_R_

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

Many thanks to @Tubitak , @EMBO_YIP , and @ERC_Research for funding and to Ebru Topcu for generating the DYRK3 interactome and @ArslanhanMelis for its analysis and driving this story forward. We had great editorial experience at @CommsBio!

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

New paper on DYRK kinases and primary cilium!
This project began with our interest in DYRK3’s relationship to centriolar satellites. But what started as a CS-focused story soon evolved into studying DYRK kinase activity during ciliogenesis.
https://t.co/5ccacq2sKV

[Elif Nur Firat-Karalar @CytoLabKoc]

Through proximity mapping, loss-of-function and phenotypic rescue experiments, we found that DYRK kinases including DYRK3 ensure that the primary cilium assembles with proper length, stability and morphology.