Welcome to the Koç University Institutional Academic Repository
The Koç University Institutional Academic Repository (KUHub Research) is a state-of-the-art academic repository that consolidates all academic outputs—such as articles, conference proceedings, theses, research data, and more—produced by the university since its establishment in 1993.
KUHub Research adheres to the principles of Open Access and FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), providing access to the bibliographic records, research data, and full texts of research outputs. Equipped with innovative features such as Author Profile pages and enhanced tools, KUHub Research aims to enhance the visibility of researchers both nationally and internationally. KUHub Research aims to preserve and maintain Koç University's valuable academic legacy for future generations while also serving the needs of today’s researchers.
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Recent Submissions
Mechanisms of fast CO2 fixation reaction by enoyl-CoA carboxylases/reductase
(European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 2028-01-01) Chretien, Anaïs; Ertem Kuzucu, Fatma Betul; Summers, Jacob; Wranik, Maximilian; 0000-0001-8480-1443; 0000-0002-2144-989x; 0000-0003-3113-0353; 0000-0002-2482-0164
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an atmospheric greenhouse gas that feeds all life, plays a critical role in global warming, and could constitute an inexpensive carbon source for future sustainable industries. While synthetic chemistry lacks suitable catalysts to functionalize carbon dioxide in mild reaction conditions, autotrophs do it constantly, and thus there is increasing interest in exploiting the CO2-fixation mechanisms offered by nature. In this exchange proposal, we propose fast time-resolved structural-dynamics studies of one of the fastest CO2-fixation enzymes, enoyl-CoA carboxylase/reductase (ECR), using ambient temperature serial X-ray crystallography on Beamline ID29, ESRF, which achieves 10μs resolution. This study will reveal details of the enzyme subunit coupling as well as the enzyme-substrate interactions to correlate the structural and functional states of the enzyme during fixation and pave the way for faster biomolecule productions using engineered C-cycling enzymes.
Mechanisms of fast CO2 fixation reaction by enoyl-CoA carboxylases/reductase
(European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 2027-01-01) Summers, Jacob; Sanctis, Daniele; Vlahakis, Niko; Knight, Victoria; Ertem Kuzucu, Fatma Betul; Chretien, Anaïs; Nurizzo, Didier; 0000-0003-3113-0353; 0000-0003-0391-8290; 0000-0002-5092-0265; 0000-0002-2144-989x; 0000-0001-8480-1443; 0000-0002-7367-5098
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is an atmospheric greenhouse gas that feeds all life, plays a critical role in global warming, and could constitute an inexpensive carbon source for future sustainable industries. While synthetic chemistry lacks suitable catalysts to functionalize carbon dioxide in mild reaction conditions, autotrophs do it constantly, and thus there is increasing interest in exploiting the CO2-fixation mechanisms offered by nature. In this exchange proposal, we propose fast time-resolved structural-dynamics studies of one of the fastest CO2-fixation enzymes, enoyl-CoA carboxylase/reductase (ECR), using ambient temperature serial X-ray crystallography on Beamline ID29, ESRF, which achieves 10μs resolution. This study will reveal details of the enzyme subunit coupling as well as the enzyme-substrate interactions to correlate the structural and functional states of the enzyme during fixation and pave the way for faster biomolecule productions using engineered C-cycling enzymes.
Effect of late-onset on multiple sclerosis phenotype and outcome: evidence from a multi-national registry
(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2026-02-01) Altıntaş, Ayşe; Souissi, Amira; Patti, Francesco; Spelman, Tim; Chisari, Clara; Gargouri, Amina; John, Nevin; Kermode, Allan G.; Kalincik, Tomas; Butzkueven, Helmut; Sajedi, Seyed Aidin; Lechner-Scott, Jeannette; Roos, Izanne; Laureys, Guy; Taylor, Bruce; Alroughani, Raed; Khoury, Samia J.; Macdonell, Richard; Weinstock-Guttman, Bianca; Havrdova, Eva Kubala; Maimone, Davide; Reddel, Stephen; Fabis-Pedrini, Marzena; Willekens, Barbara; Moghadasi, Abdorreza Naser; Lalive, Patrice; Lugaresi, Alessandra; Ozakbas, Serkan; Solaro, Claudio; Cárdenas-Robledo, Simón; Shaygannejad, Vahid; Etemadifar, Masoud; Boz, Cavit; Eichau, Sara; Tomassini, Valentina; Terzi, Murat; Prat, Alexandre; Habek, Mario; Blanco, Yolanda; Gerlach, Oliver; Turkoglu, Recai; Buzzard, Katherine; Skibina, Olga; Soysal, Aysun; van der Walt, Anneke; Hughes, Stella; van Pesch, Vincent; Foschi, Matteo; Surcinelli, Andrea; Prevost, Julie; Ramo-Tello, Cristina; McGuigan, Chris; Sa, Maria Jose; Kuhle, Jens; Spitaleri, Daniele; Singhal, Bhim; Ampapa, Radek; de Gans, Koen; Petersen, Thor; Simu, Mihaela; Lapointe, Emmanuelle; Sanchez-Menoyo, Jose Luis; Gray, Orla; Garber, Justin; Aguera-Morales, Eduardo; Gross-Paju, Katrin; Castillo-Triviño, Tamara; Al-Asmi, Abdullah; Grigoriadis, Nikolaos; Inshasi, Jihad; Al-Harbi, Talal; Hardy, Todd A.; Ramanathan, Sudarshini; Cambron, Melissa; Shuey, Neil; sempere, Angel Perez; Csepany, Tunde; Treviño-Frenk, Irene; Rozsa, Csilla; Cauchi, Marija; Karabudak, Rana; Mrabet, Saloua; Gouider, Riadh; School of Medicine; KUTTAM (Koç University Research Center for Translational Medicine); Yes; SCHOOL OF MEDICINE; Research Center
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) severity is influenced by several factors. Understanding the impact of age at disease onset may help to better characterize clinical and disease features across age groups. This study aimed to characterize the clinical features and disability outcomes of late-onset MS (LOMS) and very late-onset MS (vLOMS), compared to adult-onset MS (AOMS).We conducted an observational study using data from the MSBase registry and categorized patients based on age at MS onset: AOMS (18-39 years), transition onset (40-49 years), LOMS (50-59 years), and vLOMS (≥ 60 years). Disease progression was assessed using the 24 week confirmed disability progression, EDSS4 and 6 milestones, conversion to secondary progressive MS(SPMS), and the first progression independent of relapse activity (PIRA) event. Cox proportional hazard regression models were used to determine unadjusted hazard ratios(HR), and propensity score inverse probability of treatment weighting(PS-IPTW) balanced covariate distributions.Among 81,236 patients, 5.2% had LOMS and 1% had vLOMS. Primary progressive MS was more frequent in LOMS and vLOMS (21.7 and 24%, respectively). Patients with LOMS and vLOMS had a significantly increased risk of 24 week confirmed disability progression (HR:LOMS = 1.39, vLOMS = 1.80), EDSS 4 (HR:LOMS = 2.14, vLOMS = 2.95), EDSS 6 (HR:LOMS = 2.33, vLOMS = 6.33), SPMS (HR:LOMS = 1.62, vLOMS = 2.38), and first PIRA event (HR:LOMS = 2.12, vLOMS = 2.93).LOMS and vLOMS exhibited a more progressive disease onset and higher disability milestones compared with AOMS.
Salvage focal therapy vs radical prostatectomy for localized radiorecurrent prostate cancer
(American Medical Association, 2026) Tilki, Derya; Light, Alexander; Peters, Max; Arya, Manit; Bertoncelli Tanaka, Mariana; Dudderidge, Tim; Emara, Amr; Emberton, Mark; Grey, Alistair; Hindley, Richard; Laniado, Marc; McCraken, Stuart; Moore, Caroline M.; Nigam, Raj; Noureldin, Mohamed; Orczyk, Clement; Reddy, Deepika; Virdi, Jaspal; Ahmed, Mohamed; Albisinni, Simone; Cathcart, Paul; Joniau, Steven; Karnes, Robert Jeffrey; Persad, Raj; Rajwa, Pawel; Sanchez-Salas, Rafael; Shariat, Shahrokh F.; Smith, Joseph A.; van der Poel, Henk; Calleris, Giorgio; Gontero, Paolo; Marra, Giancarlo; Ahmed, Hashim U.; Shah, Taimur T.; KUH (Koç University Hospital); KUH (KOÇ UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL)
Importance Patients with recurrent prostate cancer after previous radiotherapy typically have poor survival. Those with recurrences prostate confined might be suitable for salvage focal therapy (sFT) or salvage radical prostatectomy (sRP). sFT may offer good cancer control with comparatively less toxic effects, but outcomes beyond 5 years have not been reported, and no study has compared sFT to sRP. Objective To compare cancer control and perioperative complications among patients after sFT vs sRP. Design, Setting, and Participants In this international, multicenter cohort study of matched comparison data, patients undergoing sFT were derived from the prospective UK HIFU (high-intensity focused ultrasound) Evaluation and Treatment and International Cryotherapy Evaluation registries (9 centers; 2006-2024) and the prospective UK Focal Recurrent Assessment and Salvage Treatment cohort study (6 centers; 2014-2018). Patients undergoing sRP were derived from an international retrospective registry (12 centers in 8 countries; 2000-2021). Patients with biopsy-confirmed, localized recurrent prostate cancer postradiotherapy, either external beam radiotherapy, brachytherapy, or both, were included. Data were analyzed from March to July 2025. Exposures sFT using HIFU or cryotherapy vs sRP. Main Outcomes and Measures The primary outcome was cancer-specific survival up to 10 years. Secondary outcomes were overall survival, any perioperative complications (Clavien-Dindo grades 1-5), and major perioperative complications (Clavien-Dindo grades 3-5). Comparisons were made on matched patients following 1:1 cardinality matching within individual multiply-imputed datasets. Matching variables used were radiotherapeutic treatment, years between primary and salvage treatments, European Association of Urology recurrence risk group, and presalvage age, prostate-specific antigen, prostate volume, grade group, T stage, and androgen-deprivation therapy use. Results A total of 923 patients were eligible for matching (419 undergoing sFT and 504 undergoing sRP). Of the patients undergoing sFT, 325 (77.6%) underwent HIFU and the remainder cryotherapy, with 241 (57.5%) treated with quadrant ablation. Of patients treated with sRP, 376 (74.6%) underwent open surgery and the remainder robot-assisted surgery. For sFT vs sRP, 10-year cancer-specific survival was 92% (95% CI, 86%-98%) vs 99% (95% CI, 97%-100%), with no statistically significant difference (restricted mean time lost, -0.09 years; 95% CI, -0.22 to 0.03 years; P = .15; subdistribution hazard ratio, 0.45; 95% CI, 0.05-4.00; P = .47). There was no statistically significant difference in 10-year overall survival (restricted mean survival time, -0.13 years; 95% CI, -0.86 to 0.60 years; P = .72). Undergoing sRP was associated with statistically significant higher odds of any complication (adjusted odds ratio, 24.20; 95% CI, 12.94-45.27; P < .001) and major complication (adjusted odds ratio, 9.31; 95% CI, 3.42-25.36; P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance In this cohort study, sFT and sRP were effective for treating localized radiorecurrent prostate cancer, while sFT was associated with fewer perioperative complications. sFT may provide a favorable therapeutic ratio for many patients with localized radiorecurrent prostate cancer.
Frailty assessment in kidney transplantation: insights from a European survey
(Oxford University Press, 2026) Demir, Erol; VELİOĞLU, A.; Erlandsson, H.; Hellemans, R.; Gandolfini, I.; Weerd, A. D.; Dedinska, I.; Sharif, A.; Schiffer, M.; Hilbrands, L. B.; Mariat, C.; TIREX (Koç University Transplant Immunology Research Centre of Excellence); KUH (Koç University Hospital); KUH (KOÇ UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL); Research Center
Background Frailty has been identified as an important determinant of adverse transplant-related outcomes; however, its integration into routine kidney transplant practice remains limited. Methods This was a web-based cross-sectional survey assessing current practice patterns and perceptions on frailty assessments among transplant physicians distributed by the DESCaRTES working group of the European Renal Association. The survey consisted of questions about frailty perceptions and practices both pre- and post-transplant. Results A total of 134 responses (response rate 39.2%) were recorded. Although 98.5% recognized frailty as a risk factor for adverse outcomes, only 6.7% reported routinely performing a standardized frailty assessment in pre-transplant evaluations. Nearly 30% never evaluated frailty, and 24.6% did so only in selected high-risk patients, primarily based on age, comorbidities or prolonged dialysis duration. Physical function was recognized as the most important component of frailty assessments; however, no single assessment tool was consistently implemented. The main barriers to integrating frailty assessments into clinical practice were lack of trained staff, absence of standardized guidelines, and uncertainty about clinical usefulness. Post-transplant frailty assessments were rarely conducted routinely, despite 74.6% acknowledging their potential value. Conclusions Despite widespread recognition of frailty as a significant determinant influencing transplant outcomes, its routine assessment in clinical practice remains limited across European centers. Variability in assessment tools, lack of guidelines and insufficient training resources contribute to this gap. Addressing these barriers through targeted education, validation of practical assessment tools, and consensus-driven protocols is essential to support the integration of frailty evaluation into both pre- and post-transplant care.