Research Focus

* Gene networks involved in nicotine’s pharmacological effects
* Statistical and functional analysis of microarray experiments
* Molecular, physiological and morphological correlates of development and feeding behavior in zebrafish.

Academic Degrees and Employment

* Faculty member at the Dept. of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Bilkent Univ., Ankara, Turkey (2002-)
* Postdoctoral research trainee, Department of Pharmacology, University of Tennessee, Memphis, TN, USA (2000-2002)
* Ph.D. in Biology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA (1996-1999)
* M.Sc. in Biology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA (1990-1992)
* B.Sc. Department of Biology, METU Ankara, Turkey (1987)

Graduate & Fellowship Program Affiliations

Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics

Summary of Requirements for Admission to Graduate Programs

* L. Carkacioglu, R. Cetin-Atalay, O. Konu, V. Atalay, T. Can, “Bi-k-Bi Clustering: Mining Large Scale Gene Expression Data Using Two-Level Biclustering,” accepted for publication in Int J of Data Mining and Bioinformatics. http://www.inderscience.com/browse/index.php?journalID=189&action=coming

* Acun T, Terzioğlu-Kara E, Konu O, Ozturk M, Yakicier MC. “Mdm2 Snp309 G allele displays high frequency and inverse correlation with somatic P53 mutations in hepatocellular carcinoma.” Mutat Res. 2010 Feb 3;684(1-2):106-8. Epub 2009 Nov 30. PubMed

* Gur-Dedeoglu B, Konu O, Bozkurt B, Ergul G, Seckin S, Yulug IG. Identification of endogenous reference genes for qRT-PCR analysis in normal matched breast tumor tissues. Oncol Res. 2009;17(8):353-65. PMID: 19544972 PubMed

* Gur-Dedeoglu B, Konu O, Kir S, Ozturk AR, Bozkurt B, Ergul G, Yulug IG. A resampling-based meta-analysis for detection of differential gene expression in breast cancer. BMC Cancer. 2008 Dec 30;8:396. PMID: 19116033 PubMed

* Avci ME, Konu O, Yagci T., “Quantification of SLIT-ROBO transcripts in hepatocellular carcinoma reveals two groups of genes with coordinate expression.” BMC Cancer. 2008 Dec 29;8:392. PMID: 19114000 PubMed

* Aydin IT, Tokcaer Z, Dalgic A, Konu O, Akcali KC. Cloning and expression profile of FLT3 gene during progenitor cell-dependent liver regeneration. J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2007 Dec;22(12):2181-8. PMID: 18031378 PubMed

* Wang J, Gutala R, Hwang YY, Kim JM, Konu O, Ma JZ, Li MD (2007). Strain- and region-specific gene expression profiles in mouse brain in response to chronic nicotine treatment.Genes Brain Behav. PMID:17504244 PubMed

* Dalkic E, Kuscu C, Sucularli C, Aydin TI., Akcali KC, Konu O. (2006) Alternatively Spliced Robo2 Isoforms in Zebrafish and Rat. Dev Genes Evol. 216(9):555-63. PMID:16625395 PubMed

* Kane JK, Hwang Y, Konu O, Loughlin SE, Leslie FM, Li MD (2005). Regulation of Homer and group I metabotropic glutamate receptors by nicotine. Eur J Neurosci. 21(5):1145-54. PMID: 15813924 PubMed

* Kane JK, Konu O, Ma JZ, Li MD (2004). Nicotine coregulates multiple pathways involved in protein modification/degradation in rat brain. Brain Res Mol Brain Res. 132(2):181-91. PMID:15582157 PubMed

* Konu O, Xu X, Ma JZ, Kane J, Wang J, Shi SJ, Li MD (2004). Application of a customized pathway-focused microarray for gene expression profiling of cellular homeostasis upon exposure to nicotine in PC12 cells. Brain Res Mol Brain Res. 121:102-13. *Equal contribution.  PMID:14969741 PubMed

* Li MD, Kane JK, Konu O (2003). Nicotine, body weight and potential implications in the treatment of obesity. Curr Top Med Chem. 2003;3(8):899-919.  PMID:12678939 PubMed

* Li MD, Konu O, Kane JK, Becker KG (2002). Microarray technology and its application on nicotine research.  Mol Neurobiol. 25(3):265-85.  PMID:12109875 PubMed

* Konu O, Li MD (2002). Correlations between mRNA expression levels and GC contents of coding and untranslated regions of genes in rodents. J Mol Evol. 54(1):35-41.  PMID:11734896 PubMed

* Konu O, Kane JK, Barrett T, Vawter MP, Chang R, Ma JZ, Donovan DM, Sharp B, Becker KG, Li MD (2001). Region-specific transcriptional response to chronic nicotine in rat brain. Brain Res. 909(1-2):194-203.  PMID:11478936 PubMed