TÜBİTAK 3501 Project Achievement from Our Department – Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özlem Kaplan
The project led by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özlem Kaplan, a faculty member of our department, has been selected for funding under the TÜBİTAK 3501 Career Development Program. The project team includes Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mehmet Koray Gök, Lect. Dr. Kevser Bal, Res. Assist. Dr. Sibel Küçükertuğrul Çelik, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Seçil Erden Tayhan, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Nazan Gökşen Tosun, and Prof. Dr. İsa Gökçe.
The project aims to develop a redox-responsive and targetable hybrid nanocarrier system designed to enable the efficient intracellular delivery of PROTAC molecules, which hold great promise in cancer therapy. This innovative system, constructed from biodegradable polymers, is engineered to undergo degradation in the reductive tumor microenvironment, thereby enabling controlled drug release. Through this approach, the therapeutic efficacy of PROTAC technology is expected to be enhanced while minimizing systemic side effects.
Project leader Assoc. Prof. Dr. Özlem Kaplan emphasized that the study will contribute to multidisciplinary research areas such as polymer synthesis, nanoformulation development, and the understanding of cellular mechanisms. She also noted that the developed platform could potentially be adapted for the delivery of various therapeutic molecules in future studies.