"The Regulatory Role of hNRNPA1 on microRNA Genes" project, coordinated by Prof. Ayşe Elif Erson Bensan, in participation of Prof. Tolga Can from Computer Engineering Department, and İbrahim Özgül and Murat Erdem, Ph.D. students of our department, as the project team, was granted the grant award in the Oncology Summit Project Competition held in memory of Prof. Mustafa Samur, MD.

In the competition organized by the Antalya Branch of the Turkish Cancer Research and Control Association, brief information about the project which was rewarded with financial support by bringing METU to the first place among the 103 projects, mostly carried out by clinicians, is as follows:

"Gene expression is mediated by RNAs synthesized from DNA. While a population of RNAs code for proteins, a much bigger percentage of RNAs have regulatory roles on various aspects of gene expression without being translated themselves. This level of complexity becomes important in cancer cells where numerous mutations have cumulative effects on RNAs and consequently on protein functions. The project aims to investigate the action mechanism of an RNA binding protein on non-coding RNAs in breast cancer cells. We hope to uncover mechanistic insights into how non-coding RNAs are deregulated in breast cancers to pave the way for novel diagnostic and therapeutic applications."